Statistical extraction of process zones and representative subspaces in fracture of random composite

We propose to identify process zones in heterogeneous materials by tailored statistical tools. The process zone is redefined as the part of the structure where the random process cannot be correctly approximated in a low-dimensional deterministic space. Such a low-dimensional space is obtained by a spectral analysis performed on pre-computed solution samples. A greedy algorithm is proposed to identify both process zone and low-dimensional representative subspace for the solution in the complementary region. In addition to the novelty of the tools proposed in this paper for the analysis of localised phenomena, we show that the reduced space generated by the method is a valid basis for the construction of a reduced order model.Comment: Submitted for publication in International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineerin

Isogeometric boundary element methods for three dimensional static fracture and fatigue crack growth

We present a novel numerical method to simulate crack growth in 3D, directly from the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) geometry of the component, without any mesh generation. The method is an isogeometric boundary element method (IGABEM) based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). NURBS basis functions are used for the domain and crack representation as well as to approximate the physical quantities involved in the simulations. A stable quadrature scheme for singular integration is proposed to enhance the robustness of the method in dealing with highly distorted elements. Convergence studies in the crack opening displacement is performed for a penny-shaped crack and an elliptical crack. Two approaches to extract stress intensity factors (SIFs): the contour M integral and the virtual crack closure integral are compared using dual integral equations. The results show remarkable accuracy in the computed SIFs, leading to smooth crack paths and reliable fatigue lives, without requiring the generation of any mesh from the CAD model of the component under consideration

Isogeometric boundary element methods for three dimensional static fracture and fatigue crack growth

We present a novel numerical method to simulate crack growth in 3D, directly from the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) geometry of the component, without any mesh generation. The method is an isogeometric boundary element method (IGABEM) based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). NURBS basis functions are used for the domain and crack representation as well as to approximate the physical quantities involved in the simulations. A stable quadrature scheme for singular integration is proposed to enhance the robustness of the method in dealing with highly distorted elements. Convergence studies in the crack opening displacement is performed for a penny-shaped crack and an elliptical crack. Two approaches to extract stress intensity factors (SIFs): the contour M integral and the virtual crack closure integral are compared using dual integral equations. The results show remarkable accuracy in the computed SIFs, leading to smooth crack paths and reliable fatigue lives, without requiring the generation of any mesh from the CAD model of the component under consideration

Strain smoothing for compressible and nearly-incompressible finite elasticity

We present a robust and efficient form of the smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) to simulate hyperelastic bodies with compressible and nearly-incompressible neo-Hookean behaviour. The resulting method is stable, free from volumetric locking and robust on highly distorted meshes. To ensure inf-sup stability of our method we add a cubic bubble function to each element. The weak form for the smoothed hyperelastic problem is derived analogously to that of smoothed linear elastic problem. Smoothed strains and smoothed deformation gradients are evaluated on sub-domains selected by either edge information (edge-based S-FEM, ES-FEM) or nodal information (node-based S-FEM, NS-FEM). Numerical examples are shown that demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of the proposed approach in the nearly-incompressible limit and on highly distorted meshes. We conclude that, strain smoothing is at least as accurate and stable, as the MINI element, for an equivalent problem size

Domain Decomposition for real time Simulation of needle insertion

International audienceOur goal is to develop robotized needle insertion for drug delivery in small animals. We control the robot with a real-time Finite Element simulation that provides accurate models of the deformable environment. To predict the deformations we need to solve a contact problem which is known to be time consuming. To reduce the computational time we use the domain decomposition method: the FE mesh is split in several domains in order to extract paral-lelism for GPU computing and to concentrate the computation time around the needle

Domain Decomposition for real time Simulation of needle insertion

International audienceOur goal is to develop robotized needle insertion for drug delivery in small animals. We control the robot with a real-time Finite Element simulation that provides accurate models of the deformable environment. To predict the deformations we need to solve a contact problem which is known to be time consuming. To reduce the computational time we use the domain decomposition method: the FE mesh is split in several domains in order to extract paral-lelism for GPU computing and to concentrate the computation time around the needle

Analysis of functionally graded material plates using triangular elements with cell-based smoothed discrete shear gap method

A cell-based smoothed finite element method with discrete shear gap technique is employed to study the static bending, free vibration, and mechanical and thermal buckling behaviour of functionally graded material (FGM) plates. The plate kinematics is based on the first-order shear deformation theory and the shear locking is suppressed by the discrete shear gap method. The shear correction factors are evaluated by employing the energy equivalence principle. The material property is assumed to be temperature dependent and graded only in the thickness direction. The effective properties are computed by using the Mori-Tanaka homogenization method. The accuracy of the present formulation is validated against available solutions. A systematic parametric study is carried out to examine the influence of the gradient index, the plate aspect ratio, skewness of the plate, and the boundary conditions on the global response of the FGM plates. The effect of a centrally located circular cutout on the global response is also studied