On parametric minimum complementary energy variational principle in soil mechanics

The parametric minimum complementary energy variational principle is given in this paper. To the problems of nonassociative flow rule in the theory of plasticity, the Drucker postulation can no longer be applied and the classical variational principles fail, the parametric variation principles can play the role instead. The parametric variational principle can be used for the finite element solution with sequential quadratic programming method to soil mechanics problems.     

Finding minimum energy configurations for constrained beam buckling problems using the Viterbi algorithm

In this work, we present a novel technique to find approximate minimum energy configurations for thin elastic bodies using an instance of dynamic programming called the Viterbi algorithm. This method can be used to find approximate solutions for large deformation constrained buckling problems as well as problems where the strain energy function is non-convex. The approach does not require any gradient computations and could be considered a direct search method. The key idea is to consider a discretized version of the set of all possible configurations and use a computationally efficient search technique to find the minimum energy configuration. We illustrate the application of this method to a laterally constrained beam buckling problem where the presence of unilateral constraints together with the non-convexity of the energy function poses challenges for conventional schemes. The method can also be used as a means for generating “very good” starting points for other conventional gradient search algorithms. These uses, along with comparisons with a direct application of a gradient search and simulated annealing, are demonstrated in this work.     

Analysis of material instabilities in inelastic solids by incremental energy minimization and relaxation methods: evolving deformation microstructures in finite plasticity

We propose an approach to the definition and analysis of material instabilities in rate-independent standard dissipative solids at finite strains based on finite-step-sized incremental energy minimization principles. The point of departure is a recently developed constitutive minimization principle for standard dissipative materials that optimizes a generalized incremental work function with respect to the internal variables. In an incremental setting at finite time steps this variational problem defines a quasi-hyperelastic stress potential. The existence of this potential allows to be recast a typical incremental boundary-value problem of quasi-static inelasticity into a principle of minimum incremental energy for standard dissipative solids. Mathematical existence theorems for sufficiently regular minimizers then induce a definition of the material stability of the inelastic material response in terms of the sequentially weakly lower semicontinuity of the incremental variational functional. As a consequence, the incremental material stability of standard dissipative solids may be defined in terms of the quasi-convexity or the rank-one convexity of the incremental stress potential. This global definition includes the classical local Hadamard condition but is more general. Furthermore, the variational setting opens up the possibility to analyze the post-critical development of deformation microstructures in non-stable inelastic materials based on energy relaxation methods. We outline minimization principles of quasi- and rank-one convexifications of incremental non-convex stress potentials for standard dissipative solids. The general concepts are applied to the analysis of evolving deformation microstructures in single-slip plasticity. For this canonical model problem, we outline details of the constitutive variational formulation and develop numerical and semi-analytical solution methods for a first-level rank-one convexification. A set of representative numerical investigations analyze the development of deformation microstructures in the form of rank-one laminates in single slip plasticity for homogeneous macro-deformation modes as well as inhomogeneous macroscopic boundary-value problems. The well-posedness of the relaxed variational formulation is indicated by an independence of typical finite element solutions on the mesh-size.     

用有限元广义混合法分析不可压缩或几乎不可压缩弹性体

不可压缩或几乎不可压缩问题在数学上表现为最小 势能原理中的某些项趋于无穷大,使得有限元方程产生病态。本文给出了不可压缩或几乎不可压缩弹性分析的广义混合变分原理,以此为基础建立了该类问题的有限元广义混合法。该变分原理的泛函中不含有上面这种奇异项,故其有限元方程不会产生病态。算例表明该有限元法可以同时进行可压缩、不可压缩或几乎不可压缩弹性分析,且精度良好;有限元常规位移法及Hermann法是该法的特例。     

Optimal prestress of structures with frictional unilateral contact interfaces

Summary The problem of optimal prestress stabilization of elastic structures with frictional contact interfaces subject to static loads is studied in this paper. A linear elastic structure with given unilateral contact at frictional interfaces is considered. The prestressing control is modelled by the pin-load method. The static problem is formulated as a nonsymmetric variational inequality. The goal of the optimal control design is closing of the unilateral contact joints as well as minimization of the friction induced slips with a minimum effort. The resulting optimal control problem is nonsmooth and nonconvex, as it concerns the control of structures governed by variational inequalities. Appropriate techniques of nonsmooth analysis are used for its numerical solution. Effective computer realization and integration into existing finite element software is facilitated by appropriate static condensation techniques, which are outlined in the paper. Numerical examples illustrate the theory.     

Solvability of boundary value problems in the geometrically and physically nonlinear theory of shallow shells of Timoshenko type

This paper deals with the proof of the existence of solutions of a geometrically and physically nonlinear boundary value problem for shallow Timoshenko shells with the transverse shear strains taken into account. The shell edge is assumed to be partly fixed. It is proposed to study the problem by a variational method based on searching the points of minimum of the total energy functional for the shell-load system in the space of generalized displacements. We show that there exists a generalized solution of the problemon which the total energy functional attains its minimum on a weakly closed subset of the space of generalized displacements.     

Minimum principle of complementary energy of cable networks by using second-order cone programming

The minimum principle of complementary energy is established for cable networks involving only stress components as variables in geometrically nonlinear elasticity. It is rather amazing that the complementary energy always attains minimum value at the equilibrium state irrespective of the stability of cable networks, contrary to the fact that only the stationary principles have been presented for elastic trusses and continua even in the case of stable equilibrium state. In order to show the strong duality between the minimization problems of total potential energy and complementary energy, the convex formulations of these problems are investigated, which can be embedded into a primal–dual pair of second-order cone programming problems. The existence and uniqueness of solution are also investigated for the minimization problem of complementary energy.     

板弯曲求解新体系及其应用

建立平面弹性与板弯曲的相似性理论,给出了板弯曲经典理论的另一套基本方程与求解方法,然后进入哈密顿体系用直接法研究板弯曲问题．新方法论应用分离变量、本征函数展开方法给出了条形板问题的分析解,突破了传统半逆解法的限制．结果表明新方法论有广阔的应用前景．     

Critical Reynolds number of the couette flow of a vibrationally excited diatomic gas energy approach

An energy balance equation for plane-parallel flows of a vibrationally excited diatomic gas described by a two-temperature relaxation model is derived within the framework of the nonlinear energy theory of hydrodynamic stability. A variational problem of calculating critical Reynolds numbers Re_cr determining the lower boundary of the possible beginning of the laminar-turbulent transition is considered for this equation. Asymptotic estimates of Re_cr are obtained, which show the characteristic dependences of the critical Reynolds number on the Mach number, bulk viscosity, and relaxation time. A problem for arbitrary wave numbers is solved by the collocation method. In the realistic range of flow parameters for a diatomic gas, the minimum critical Reynolds numbers are reached on modes of streamwise disturbances and increase approximately by a factor of 2.5 as the flow parameters increase.     

变分迭代算法：一种新的非线性分析方法

本文提出了求解非线性方程的一种新方法－变分迭代算法，这种方法的基本特点是：给定一个近似解（可以包含待定常数）然后用拉氏乘子来校正其近似解，拉氏乘子可用变分的概念最佳确定，这种方法不受小参数的限制，具有很大的应用前景，本文详细介绍了这种方法，并得到了Ｄｕｆｆｉｎｇ方程的两个新的近似解。     

Optimal selection for the weighted coefficients of the constrained variational problems

The aim is to put forward the optimal selecting of weights in variational problemin which the linear advection equation is used as constraint. The selection of the functionalweight coefficients ( FWC) is one of the key problems for the relevant research. It wasarbitrary and subjective to some extent presently. To overcome this difficulty, thereasonable assumptions were given for the observation field and analyzed field, variationalproblems with " weak constraints" and " strong constraints" were considered separately. Bysolving Euler' s equation with the matrix theory and the finite difference method of partialdifferential equation, the objective weight coefficients were obtained in the minimumvariance of the difference between the analyzed field and ideal field. Deduction results showthat theoretically the optimal selection indeed exists in the weighting factors of the costfunction in the means of the minimal variance between the analysis and ideal field in terms ofthe matrix theory and partial differen     

Principles of minimum transformed energy and minimum principles for dynamics of plates

In the present paper, we first by Laplace transform present a derivation of principle of transformed virtual work, three principles of minimum transformed energy with influence of rotatory enertia for dynamics of anisotropic linear elastic plates with three generalized displacements. Moreover, the forms with the original in place-time domain corresponding these variational principles are presented.Then by the introduction of the set of admissible weight functions the three minimum principles for the original place-time domain are derived.In each of the preceding groups of the variational principles there are two which are the dynamic counterparts to the static principles of minimum potetial energy and minimum complementary energy; the other principles are formulated in terms of the internal force alone, but have no counterpart in elastostatics of plates.     

Non-linear flexure testing of a high-strength glass disk

Strength measurements of glass disk substrates were made by ring-on-ring flexural testing. The non-linear problem of a disk undergoing a large deflection in ring bending was solved approximately by a variational method. The solution has the minimum total energy and satisfies the required boundary conditions. Deflection, stress and strain distributions are evaluated as functions of the external load in terms of seven parameters related to sample material and geometry. Good agreement between experiment and theory has been obtained without any adjustable parameter for a glass disk of Corning Code 0313.     

On the unilateral contact problem of structures with a non quadratic strain energy density

The analysis of structures with “unilateral contact” boundary conditions is considered. The stress-strain relations are nonlinear and they are derived from a non quadratic strain energy density by “subdifferentiation”. It is proved that for the inequality constrained boundary value problem the “principles” of virtual and of complementary virtual work hold in an inequality form constituting a variational inequality. The theorems of minimum potential and complementary energy are proved to be valid to account for this type of boundary conditions. These theorems are used to formulate the analysis as a nonlinear programming problem. A numerical example of a structure having the “unilateral contact” boundary condition illustrates the theory.     

On the limit velocity and buckling phenomena of axially moving orthotropic membranes and plates

In this paper, we consider the static stability problems of axially moving orthotropic membranes and plates. The study is motivated by paper production processes, as paper has a fiber structure which can be described as orthotropic on the macroscopic level. The moving web is modeled as an axially moving orthotropic plate. The original dynamic plate problem is reduced to a two-dimensional spectral problem for static stability analysis, and solved using analytical techniques. As a result, the minimal eigenvalue and the corresponding buckling mode are found. It is observed that the buckling mode has a shape localized in the regions close to the free boundaries. The localization effect is demonstrated with the help of numerical examples. It is seen that the in-plane shear modulus affects the strength of this phenomenon. The behavior of the solution is investigated analytically. It is shown that the eigenvalues of the cross-sectional spectral problem are nonnegative. The analytical approach allows for a fast solver, which can then be used for applications such as statistical uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, real-time parameter space exploration, and finding optimal values for design parameters.     

Another Theorem of Classical Solvability ‘In Small’ for One-Dimensional Variational Problems

In this paper we suggest a direct method for studying local minimizers of one-dimensional variational problems which naturally complements the classical local theory. This method allows us both to recover facts of the classical local theory and to resolve a number of problems which were previously unreachable. The basis of these results is a regularity theory (a priori estimates and compactness in C ¹) for solutions of obstacle problems with sufficiently close obstacles. In these problems we establish that solutions exist and inherit regularity of the obstacles even under assumptions on integrands that are much weaker than those required in the classical local theory.     

Principle of minimum energy dissipation rate in steady Hele-Shaw flows

A new local form of the principle, in which dissipation is estimated only in a small vicinity of a free interface in steady Hele-Shaw flows, is proposed. It is established that for the problem of bubble propulsion the principle proposed is mathematically equivalent to the variational principle formulated by Saffman and Taylor without physical validation. It is shown that the new local form of the minimum dissipation principle effectively solves the problem of selection of a unique selection in the problems of both bubble and finger propulsion.     

Cavitational Flow and Magnetohydrodynamics

The study of cavitational flow is formulated as a free boundary problem for the Laplace equation in three dimensions. Constant pressure free streamlines are determined by a variational principle for the virtual mass that can be deduced from a similar result for vortex sheets. Steepest descent applied to minimization of the potential energy suggests a natural iterative scheme to calculate the shape of the cavity bounded by the free streamlines. Numerical methods enable one to estimate the drag and the geometry of the flow. Another version of the variational principle plays an important role in plasma physics and the theory of magnetic fusion. This method has significant applications to stellarators, which are toroidal configurations for confinement of hot plasma whose three-dimensional geometry leads to interesting mathematical problems. Large computer codes implementing the theory play a central role in the design of thermonuclear reactors.