Removing Collision Singularities from Action Minimizers for the N-Body Problem with Free Boundaries

For the planar and spatial N-body problems, it has been proved by Marchal and Chenciner that solutions for the minimizing problem with fixed ends are free from interior collisions. This important result has been extended by Ferrario & Terracini to Newtonian-type problems and equivariant problems. It has also been used to construct many symmetric solutions for the N-body problem. In this paper we are interested in action minimizing solutions in function spaces with free boundaries. The function spaces are imposed with boundary conditions, such that every mass point starts and ends on two transversal proper subspaces of ℝ^d, d≥2. We will prove that solutions for this minimizing problem with free boundaries are always free from collisions, including boundary collisions. This result can be used to construct certain classes of relative periodic solutions of the N-body problem.     

The Method of R-Functions in the Solution of Elastic Problems on the Basis of Reissner's Mixed Variational Principle

A method is presented for solving boundary-value elastic problems on the basis of the variational–structural method of R-functions and Reissner's mixed variational principle. A mathematical formulation is given to problems on the deformation of elastic bodies under mixed boundary conditions and bodies interacting with smooth rigid dies. Solutions satisfying all the boundary conditions are proposed. For undetermined components of these solutions, the resolving equations are derived and their properties are studied. A posteriori estimation of numerical solutions is made. As examples, solutions are found to a problem on the stress–strain state of a short cylinder and to a contact problem on a cylinder interacting with a smooth die. A numerical method of solving such problems is analyzed for convergence, and the accuracy of the solutions is estimated.     

Solving initial–boundary-value creep problems

The Galerkin–Bubnov method with global approximations is used to find approximate solutions to initial–boundary-value creep problems. It is shown that this approach allows obtaining solutions available in the literature. The features of how the solutions of initial–boundary-value problems for oneand three-dimensional models are found are analyzed. The approximate solutions found by the Galerkin–Bubnov method with global approximations is shown to be invariant to the form of the equations of the initial–boundary-value problem. It is established that solutions of initial–boundary-value creep problems can be classified according to the form of operators in the mathematical problem formulation     

Two-dimensional flow in porous strata with conductivity modeling by a harmonic function of the coordinates

Boundary-value problems of two-dimensional flows in porous media are investigated in finite form for a broad class of strata with harmonic conductivity. The conformal covariance of the conjugation problem formulated is demonstrated. This makes it possible to reduce it to a canonical problem whose solutions are represented by quadratures. The solutions obtained are applied to new problems associated with the operation of a well in soil strata under complex geological conditions.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 102–112, May–June, 1995.     

Influence of boundary conditions on the solution of a hyperbolic thermoelasticity problem

We consider a series of problems with a short laser impact on a thin metal layer accounting various boundary conditions of the first and second kind. The behavior of the material is modeled by the hyperbolic thermoelasticity of Lord–Shulman type. We obtain analytical solutions of the problems in the semi-coupled formulation and numerical solutions in the coupled formulation. Numerical solutions are compared with the analytical ones. The analytical solutions of the semi-coupled problems and numerical solutions of the coupled problems show qualitative match. The solutions of hyperbolic thermoelasticity problems are compared with those obtained in the frame of the classical thermoelasticity. It was determined that the most prominent difference between the classical and hyperbolic solutions arises in the problem with fixed boundaries and constant temperature on them. The smallest differences were observed in the problem with unconstrained, thermally insulated edges. It was shown that a cooling zone is observed if the boundary conditions of the first kind are given for the temperature. Analytical expressions for the velocities of the quasiacoustic and quasithermal fronts as well as the critical value for the attenuation coefficient of the excitation impulse are verified numerically.     

Loss of uniqueness of numerical solutions of the borehole problem modelled with enhanced media

It is well known that, initial boundary value problems involving constitutive equations modeling the degradation of the strength of materials are not well posed, which renders computations questionable. To overcome this issue it is necessary to enhance the models by incorporating some internal length. It has been shown that such an enhancement restores the objectivity of the computation as spurious mesh dependency is avoided. However, at least for simple problems (e.g. one dimensional ones), it has been proven that uniqueness of the underlying mathematical problem itself is not restored. Moreover numerical modeling of element tests yields several solutions. This paper demonstrates that several numerical solutions can be obtained also for less simple problems, namely the borehole problems. Even when a defect is introduced in the computed problems, different numerical solutions are found. Contrary to the one dimensional problem there is no proof that this loss of uniqueness comes from the underlying mathematical problem. It is our opinion that this is an inherent property of initial boundary value problems where, broadly speaking, strong degradation of the mechanical properties is modeled. In any case, it is necessary to be aware of this issue. For problems involving constitutive equation modeling strength degradation, it is important to try to find other solutions than the one obtained by using routinely a numerical code. The failure patterns of the different solutions found are however similar to experimental observations. This possible loss of uniqueness can then be seen as a counterpart of the difficulties encountered when attempting to reproduce experiments. This is crucial when dealing with geomaterials.     

Study of a new semi-continuous model of the Boltzmann equation

For a semi-continuous model of the Boltzmann equation (1) peculiar solutions are obtained and generally the global existence of solutions of the initial value problem is discussed. The global existence is possible even in some cases for partially negative initial number densities, which are not physical problems, but mathematical ones. It can be shown that in some cases the entropy begins to increase, reaches a maximum and decreases again.     

Two dimensional half-space problems for the Broadwell discrete velocity model

Stationary boundary value problems for the Broadwell model in a half-space and in a half-infinite channel are considered. By means of the analogy between the stationary boundary value problems for the Broadwell equations and the initial-boundary value problem of Carleman's system, solutions are found for various situations. Uniqueness and non-uniqueness of solutions is discussed as well. The non-uniqueness problem in the channel leads to the investigation of the initial value problem for Carleman's equation with partly negative initial densities. Some new results for this problem are given. Received January 20, 1996     

A new approach for the solution of singular optimum in structural topology optimization

In order to overcome the difficulties caused by singular optima, in the present paper, a new method for the solutions of structural topology optimization problems is proposed. The distinctive feature of this method is that instead of solving the original optimization problem directly, we turn to seeking the solutions of a sequence of approximated problems which are formulated by relaxing the constraints of the original problem to some extent. The approximated problem can be solved efficiently by employing the algorithms developed for sizing optimization problems because its solution is not singular. It can also be proved that when the relaxation parameter is tending to zero, the solution of the approximated problem will converge to the solution of the original problem uniformly. Numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness and validity of the present approach. Results are also compared with those obtained by traditional methods. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under project No. 19572023     

Inhomogeneous elastostatic problem solutions constructed from stress-associated homogeneous solutions

In this paper, we present a theorem that provides solutions for anisotropic and inhomogeneous elastostatic problems by using the known solution of an associated anisotropic and homogeneous problem if the associated problem has a stress state with a zero eigenvalue everywhere in the domain of the problem. The fundamental property on which this stress-associated solution (SAS) theorem is built is the coaxiality of the eigenvector associated with the zero stress eigenvalue in the homogeneous problem and the gradient of the scalar function ? characterizing the inhomogeneous character of the inhomogeneous problem. It is shown that most of the solutions of anisotropic elastic problems presented in the literature have this property and, therefore, it is possible to use the SAS theorem to construct new exact solutions for inhomogeneous problems, as well as to find—using the SAS theorem—solutions for the shape intrinsic and angularly inhomogeneous problems.     

The approximate solutions to the non-linear heat conduction problems in a semi-infinite medium

The approximate solutions to the non-linear heat conduction problems in a semi-infinite medium are investigated. The entire temperature range is divided into a number of small sub-regions where the thermal properties can be approximated to be constant. The resulting problems can be considered as the Stefan’s problem of a multi-phase with no latent heat and the exact solutions called Neumann’s solution are available. In order to obtain the solutions, however, a set of highly non-linear equations in determining the phase boundaries should be solved simultaneously. This work presents a semi-analytic algorithm to determine the phase boundaries without solving the highly non-linear equations. Results show that the solutions for a set of highly non-linear equations depend strongly on the initial guess, bad initial guess leads to the wrong solutions. However, the present algorithm does not require the initial guess and always converges to the correct solutions.     

Local and Global Injective Solution of the Rotationally Symmetric Sphere Problem

There are problems in the classical linear theory of elasticity whose closed form solutions, while satisfying the governing equations of equilibrium together with well-posed boundary conditions, predict the existence of regions, often quite small, inside the body where material overlaps. Of course, material overlapping is not physically realistic, and one possible way to prevent it combines linear theory with the requirement that the deformation field be injective. A formulation of minimization problems in classical linear elasticity proposed by Fosdick and Royer [3] imposes this requirement through a Lagrange multiplier technique. An existence theorem for minimizers of plane problems is also presented. In general, however, it is not certain that such minimizers exist. Here, the Euler–Lagrange equations corresponding to a family of three-dimensional problems is investigated. In classical linear elasticity, these problems do not have bounded solutions inside a body of anisotropic material for a range of material parameters. For another range of parameters, bounded solutions do exist but yield stresses that are infinite at a point inside the body. In addition, these solutions are not injective in a region surrounding this point, yielding unrealistic behavior such as overlapping of material. Applying the formulation of Fosdick and Royer on this family of problems, it is shown that both the displacements and the constitutive part of the stresses are bounded for all values of the material parameters and that the injectivity constraint is preserved. In addition, a penalty functional formulation of the constrained elastic problems is proposed, which allows to devise a numerical approach to compute the solutions of these problems. The approach consists of finding the displacement field that minimizes an augmented potential energy functional. This augmented functional is composed of the potential energy of linear elasticity theory and of a penalty functional divided by a penalty parameter. A sequence of solutions is then constructed, parameterized by the penalty parameter, that converges to a function that satisfies the first variation conditions for a minimizer of the constrained minimization problem when this parameter tends to infinity. This approach has the advantages of being mathematically appealling and computationally simple to implement.     

A unified treatment of axisymmetric adhesive contact problems using the harmonic potential function method

A unified treatment of axisymmetric adhesive contact problems is provided using the harmonic potential function method for axisymmetric elasticity problems advanced by Green, Keer, Barber and others. The harmonic function adopted in the current analysis is the one that was introduced by Jin et al. (2008) to solve an external crack problem. It is demonstrated that the harmonic potential function method offers a simpler and more consistent way to treat non-adhesive and adhesive contact problems. By using this method and the principle of superposition, a general solution is derived for the adhesive contact problem involving an axisymmetric rigid punch of arbitrary shape and an adhesive interaction force distribution of any profile. This solution provides analytical expressions for all non-zero displacement and stress components on the contact surface, unlike existing ones. In addition, the newly derived solution is able to link existing solutions/models for axisymmetric non-adhesive and adhesive contact problems and to reveal the connections and differences among these solutions/models individually obtained using different methods at various times. Specifically, it is shown that Sneddon’s solution for the axisymmetric punch problem, Boussinesq’s solution for the flat-ended cylindrical punch problem, the Hertz solution for the spherical punch problem, the JKR model, the DMT model, the M-D model, and the M-D-n model can all be explicitly recovered by the current general solution.     

Termination of the starting problem of dynamic expansion of a spherical cavity in an infinite elastic-perfectly-plastic medium

Perhaps the simplest non-trivial problem in small deformation dynamic plasticity is expansion of a spherical cavity in an infinite elastic-perfectly-plastic medium. Here, example problems are considered with two boundary conditions at the cavity's surface: constant velocity and constant pressure. Attempts to obtain analytical solutions are complicated by the fact that, in general, the elastic-plastic boundary propagates with variable speed. However, it is known that the elastic-plastic boundary propagates at constant speed for the starting problem when the shocks due to the applied loads are large enough to cause inelastic response at the instant they are applied. When the value of the applied pressure equals the shock pressure due to the applied velocity the solutions of the two boundary value problems are initially identical and can be compared. The objective of this paper is to review the literature and to examine the termination conditions for the starting problem. Specifically, the starting problem terminates when either the jump in radial stress at the elastic-plastic boundary or the loading condition for plasticity vanishes there. These termination conditions depend on the applied load and on Poisson's ratio.     

Analysis of the temperature field of cylindrical flow based on an on-the-average exact solution

The temperature field in a well is constructed on the basis of an on-the-average exact solution, which allows investigation of problems of subterranean thermodynamics and heat and mass transfer. The problem is represented in the form of a sequence of problems of a mixed type, whose solutions give corresponding asymptotic-expansion coefficients and the form of the remainder term and the functions taking into account the presence of the boundary layer, for which analytical solutions are also found. It is shown that the proposed modified asymptotic method provides vanishing of the solution of the averaged problem for the remainder term.     

Self-similar solutions in the problem of generalized vortex diffusion

The analysis of the group properties and the search for self-similar solutions in problems of mathematical physics and continuum mechanics have always been of interest, both theoretical and applied [1–3]. Self-similar solutions of parabolic problems that depend only on a variable of the type η = x/√t are classical fundamental solutions of the one-dimensional linear and nonlinear heat conduction equations describing numerous physical phenomena with initial discontinuities on the boundary [4]. In this study, the term “generalized vortex diffusion” is introduced in order to unify the different processes in mechanics modeled by these problems. Here, vortex layer diffusion and vortex filament diffusion in a Newtonian fluid [5] can serve as classical hydrodynamic examples. The cases of self-similarity with respect to the variable η are classified for fairly general kinematics of the processes, physical nonlinearities of the medium, and types of boundary conditions at the discontinuity points. The general initial and boundary value problem thus formulated is analyzed in detail for Newtonian and non-Newtonian power-law fluids and a medium similar in behavior to a rigid-ideally plastic body. New self-similar solutions for the shear stress are derived.     

Problems on elastic equilibrium of a wedge with cracks on the axis of symmetry

We use the Wiener-Hopf method to obtain exact solutions of plane deformation problems for an elastic wedge whose lateral sides are stress free and which has rectilinear cracks on its axis of symmetry. In problem 1, a finite crack issues from the wedge apex edge; in problem 2, a half-infinite crack originates at a certain distance from the wedge apex edge; and in problem 3, the wedge contains an internal finite crack.     

A Theory of General Solutions of Plane Problems in Two-Dimensional Octagonal Quasicrystals

A theory of general solutions of plane problems is developed for the coupled equations in plane elasticity of two-dimensional octagonal quasicrystals. In virtue of the operator method, the general solutions of the antiplane and inplane problems are given constructively with two displacement functions. The introduced displacement functions have to satisfy higher order partial differential equations, and therefore it is difficult to obtain rigorous analytic solutions directly and is not applicable in most cases. In this case, a decomposition and superposition procedure is employed to replace the higher order displacement functions with some lower order displacement functions, and accordingly the general solutions are further simplified in terms of these functions. In consideration of different cases of characteristic roots, the general solution of the antiplane problem involves two cases, and the general solution of the inplane problem takes three cases, but all are in simple forms that are convenient to be applied. Furthermore, it is noted that the general solutions obtained here are complete in x ₃-convex domains.      

Determination of the ultimate states of elastoplastic bodies

The equations of quasistatic deformation of elastoplastic bodies are considered in a geometrical linear formulation. After discretization of the equations with respect to spatial variables by the finite-element method, the problem of determining equilibrium onfigurations reduces to integration of a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. In the ultimate state of a body of an ideal elastoplastic material, the matrix of the system degenerates and the problem becomes singular. A regularization algorithm for determining solutions of the problems for the ultimate states of bodies is proposed. Numerical solutions of test problems of determining the ultimate loads and equilibrium configurations for ideal elastoplastic bodies confirm the reliability of the regularization algorithm proposed. Lavrent’ev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 196–204, September–October, 2000.     

Transition of unsteady flows of evaporation to steady state

We investigate the half-space problem of evaporation and condensation in the scope of discrete kinetic theory. Exact solutions are found to the boundary value problem and the initial boundary value problems of the flow in the half space for a discrete velocity model. The results are used to analyze the transition of the unsteady solutions towards steady states. To cite this article: A. d'Almeida, C. R. Mecanique 336 (2008).