A novel hierarchical multiresolution framework using CutFEM

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a robust concurrent multiscale method for continuum-continuum coupling based on the cut finite element method. The computational domain is defined in a fully non-conforming fashion by approximate signed distance functions over a fixed background grid and decomposed into microscale and macroscale regions by a novel zooming technique. The zoom interface is represented by a signed distance function which is allowed to intersect the computational mesh arbitrarily. We refine the mesh inside the zooming region hierarchically for high-resolution computations. In the examples considered here, the microstructure can possess void, and hard inclusions and the corresponding geometry is defined by a signed distance function interpolated over the refined mesh. In our zooming technique, the zooming interface is allowed to intersect the microstructure interface in a arbitrary way. Then, the coupling between the subdomains is applied using Nitsche's method across interfaces. This multiresolution framework proposes an efficient stabilized algorithm to ensure the stability of elements cut by the zooming and the microstructure interfaces. It is tested for several multiscale examples to demonstrate its robustness and efficiency for elasticity and plasticity problems