On a computational approach to multiple contacts / impacts of elastic bodies

summary:The analysis of dynamic contacts/impacts of several deformable bodies belongs to both theoretically and computationally complicated problems, because of the presence of unpleasant nonlinearities and of the need of effective contact detection. This paper sketches how such difficulties can be overcome, at least for a model problem with several elastic bodies, using i) the explicit time-discretization scheme and ii) the finite element technique adopted to contact evaluations together with iii) the distributed computing platform. These considerations are supported by the references to useful generalizations, motivated by significant engineering applications. Illustrative examples demonstrate this approach on structures assembled from a finite number of shells

The exploitation of parallelization to numerical solutions regarding problems in nonlinear dynamics

Hlavním cílem této práce je prozkoumání možností využití paralelizace v numerických výpočtech nelineární dynamiky. V poslední dekádě došlo k dramatickému nástupu vícejádrových a výceprocesorových systému v kombinaci s možnostmi, které nyní poskytují moderní počítačové sítě. Komplexnost a velikost řešených modelů se neustále zvyšuje a díky vysoké výpočetní náročnosti úloh dynamiky a statiky konstrukcí, a to především kvůli jejich často nelineárnímu charakteru, je jakákoliv možnost urychlení výpočetních procedur více než žádoucí. Jelikož se jedná o relativně nové odvětví, řada algoritmů a konkrétních paralelních implementací je stále ve stádiu vývoje a výzkumu, a to i proto, že pokroky v oblasti počítačového hardwaru rapidně vzrůstají a s tím vznikají další otázky, jak nejlépe využít dostupný výpočetní výkon. Navržený paralelní model je založený na explicitní formě metodě konečných prvků, která ze své podstaty poskytuje možnost efektivní paralelizace. Zkoumány jsou pak možnosti využití vícejádrovch procesorů, ale i hybridního paralelního modelu kombinujícího možnosti vícejádrových procesorů a paralelní formy na počítačové síti. Navržené přístupy jsou pak testovány při numerickém řešení kontaktní/impaktní úlohy skořepinových konstrukcí.The main aim of this thesis is the exploration of the potential use of the parallelism of numerical computations in the field of nonlinear dynamics. In the last decade the dramatic onset of multicore and multi-processor systems in combination with the possibilities which now provide modern computer networks has risen. The complexity and size of the investigated models are constantly increasing due to the high computational complexity of computational tasks in dynamics and statics of structures, mainly because of the nonlinear character of the solved models. Any possibility to speed up such calculation procedures is more than desirable. This is a relatively new branch of science, therefore specific algorithms and parallel implementation are still in the stage of research and development which is attributed to the latest advances in computer hardware, which is growing rapidly. More questions are raised on how best to utilize the available computing power. The proposed parallel model is based on the explicit form of the finite element method, which naturaly provides the possibility of efficient parallelization. The possibilities of multicore processors, as well as parallel hybrid model combining both the possibilities of multicore processors, and the form of the parallelism on a computer network are investigated. The designed approaches are then examined in addressing of the numerical analysis regarding contact/impact phenomena of shell structures.

Explicit integration of equations of motion solved on computer cluster

summary:In the last decade the dramatic onset of multicore and multi-processor systems in combination with the possibilities which now provide modern computer networks have risen. The complexity and size of the investigated models are constantly increasing due to the high computational complexity of computational tasks in dynamics and statics of structures, mainly because of the nonlinear character of the solved models. Any possibility to speed up such calculation procedures is more than desirable. This is a relatively new branch of science, therefore specific algorithms and parallel implementation are still in the stage of research and development which is attributed to the latest advances in computer hardware, which is growing rapidly. More questions are raised on how best to utilize the available computing power. The proposed parallel model is based on the explicit form of the finite element method, which naturaly provides the possibility of efficient parallelization. The possibilities of multicore processors, as well as parallel hybrid model combining both the possibilities of multicore processors, and the form of the parallelism in a computer network are investigated. The designed approaches are then examined in addressing of the numerical analysis regarding contact/impact phenomena of shell structures

The exploitation of parallelization to numerical solutions regarding problems in nonlinear dynamics

The main aim of this thesis is the exploration of the potential use of the parallelism of numerical computations in the field of nonlinear dynamics. In the last decade the dramatic onset of multicore and multi-processor systems in combination with the possibilities which now provide modern computer networks has risen. The complexity and size of the investigated models are constantly increasing due to the high computational complexity of computational tasks in dynamics and statics of structures, mainly because of the nonlinear character of the solved models. Any possibility to speed up such calculation procedures is more than desirable. This is a relatively new branch of science, therefore specific algorithms and parallel implementation are still in the stage of research and development which is attributed to the latest advances in computer hardware, which is growing rapidly. More questions are raised on how best to utilize the available computing power. The proposed parallel model is based on the explicit form of the finite element method, which naturaly provides the possibility of efficient parallelization. The possibilities of multicore processors, as well as parallel hybrid model combining both the possibilities of multicore processors, and the form of the parallelism on a computer network are investigated. The designed approaches are then examined in addressing of the numerical analysis regarding contact/impact phenomena of shell structures

Parallel Computation on Multicore Processors Using Explicit Form of the Finite Element Method and C++ Standard Libraries

In this paper, the form of modifications of the existing sequential code written in C or C++ programming language for the calculation of various kind of structures using the explicit form of the Finite Element Method (Dynamic Relaxation Method, Explicit Dynamics) in the NEXX system is introduced. The NEXX system is the core of engineering software NEXIS, Scia Engineer, RFEM and RENEX. It has the possibilities of multithreaded running, which can now be supported at the level of native C++ programming language using standard libraries. Thanks to the high degree of abstraction that a contemporary C++ programming language provides, a respective library created in this way can be very generalized for other purposes of usage of parallelism in computational mechanics

Dynamic Damping - Comparison of different concepts from the point of view of their physical nature and effects on civil engineering structures

summary:Sources of dynamic damping may be various. Mostly, the damping is implemented into calculations in a form of introduction of damping forces, as a product of the velocity vector and the damping matrix in an equation of motion. In practice, the damping matrix is usually assumed to be a linear combination of the mass matrix and the stiffness matrix (so called Rayleigh’s damping). This kind of damping primarily assumes the external environment viscosity as the source of damping, even though the part of Rayleigh's damping with the stiffness matrix implies the internal damping of the material. Explicitly, the internal viscosity of the material is respected using the appropriate material models. The relation between the Rayleigh damping and the Kelvin-Voight viscosity is shown in the paper. Dynamic damping occurs even when using non-elastic materials, where the unloading takes place in a different path from the loading and thus it leads to dissipation during loading cycles. The paper deals with the comparison of different types of damping of the oscillation of a building structure. The main aim of the paper is to recommend to apply the viscous material model instead of the obsolete and physically unjustified Rayleigh damping in the nonlinear dynamic time analysis of structures