End effects for a generalized biharmonic equation with applications to functionally graded materials

In this paper we consider a generalized biharmonic equation modeling two-dimensional inhomogeneous elastic state in the curvilinear rectangle a<r<b, 0<θ<α, where (r,θ) denote plane polar coordinates. Such an arch-like region is maintained in equilibrium under self-equilibrated traction applied on one of the edges, while the other three edges are traction free. Our aim is to derive some explicit spatial estimates describing how some appropriate measures concerning the specific Airy stress function evolve with respect to the distance to the loaded edge. Two types of smoothly varying inhomogeneity are considered: (i) the elastic moduli vary smoothly with the polar distance, (ii) they vary smoothly with the polar angle. Such types of smoothly varying inhomogeneous elastic materials provide a model for technological important functionally graded materials. The results of the present paper prove how the spatial decay rate varies with the constitutive profile.     

On Saint‐Venant's principle in a poroelastic arch‐like region

In this paper we consider the state of plane strain in an elastic material with voids occupying a curvilinear strip as an arch‐like region described by R: a<r<b, 0<θ<ω, where r and θ are polar coordinates and a, b, and ω (<2π) are prescribed positive constants. Such a curvilinear strip is maintained in equilibrium under self‐equilibrated traction and equilibrated force applied on one of the edges, whereas the other three edges are traction free and subjected to zero volumetric fraction or zero equilibrated force. In fact, we study the case when one right or curved edge is loaded. Our aim is to derive some explicit spatial estimates describing how some appropriate measures of a specific Airy stress function and volume fraction evolve with respect to the distance to the loaded edge. The results of the present paper prove how the spatial decay rate varies with the constitutive profile. For the problem corresponding to a loaded right edge, we are able to establish an exponential decay estimate with respect to the angle θ. Whereas for the problem corresponding to a loaded curved edge, we establish an algebraical spatial decay with respect to the polar distance r, provided the angle ω is lower than the critical value $\pi\sqrt{2}$. The intended applications of these results concern various branches of medicine as for example the bone implants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Saint-Venant's principle for a linear poroelastic material in plane strain

In this paper we consider the state of plane strain in an elastic material with voids occupying a rectangular strip. Such a strip is maintained in equilibrium under self-equilibrated traction and equilibrated force applied on one of the edges, while the other three edges are traction-free and subjected to zero volumetric fraction or zero equilibrated force. Our aim is to derive some explicit spatial estimates describing how some appropriate measures of a specific Airy stress function and volume fraction evolve with respect to the distance to the loaded edge. The both cases of homogeneous and inhomogeneous poroelastic materials are considered. The results of the present paper prove how the spatial-decay rate varies with the constitutive profile.     

Saint-Venant decay rates for an inhomogeneous isotropic linear thermoelastic strip

In this paper we consider the state of plane strain in an isotropic and inhomogeneous thermoelastic material occupying a rectangular strip. Such a strip is maintained in equilibrium under self-equilibrated traction applied on one of the heated edges, while the other three edges are thermally insulated and traction-free. Our aim is to derive some explicit spatial estimates describing how certain appropriate measures of the Airy stress function and temperature evolve with respect to the distance from the loaded and heated edge, provided specific assumptions are made upon the derivatives of the thermoelastic coefficients. The results of the present paper prove how the spatial decay rate varies with the inhomogeneous constitutive profile.     

Crack Singularities for General Elliptic Systems

We consider general homogeneous Agmon‐Douglis‐Nirenberg elliptic systems with constant coefficients complemented by the same set of boundary conditions on both sides of a crack in a two‐dimensional domain. We prove that the singular functions expressed in polar coordinates (r, θ) near the crack tip all have the form r^{k + 1/2}φ(θ) with k ≥ 0 integer, with the possible exception of a finite number of singularities of the form r^k log r φ(θ). We also prove results about singularities in the case when the boundary conditions on the two sides of the crack are not the same, and in particular in mixed Dirichlet‐Neumann boundary value problems for strongly coercive systems: in the latter case, we prove that the exponents of singularity have the form with real η and integer k. This is valid for general anisotropic elasticity too.     

Analytic regularity for a singularly perturbed system of reaction-diffusion equations with multiple scales

We consider a coupled system of two singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equations, with two small parameters 0?<?ε?≤?μ?≤?1, each multiplying the highest derivative in the equations. The presence of these parameters causes the solution(s) to have boundary layers which overlap and interact, based on the relative size of ε and μ. We show how one can construct full asymptotic expansions together with error bounds that cover the complete range 0?<?ε?≤?μ?≤?1. For the present case of analytic input data, we present derivative growth estimates for the terms of the asymptotic expansion that are explicit in the perturbation parameters and the expansion order.     

Maximizing the distance between center,centroid and characteristic set of a tree

Consider a tree P_n-g,g , n≥ 2, 1≤ g≤ n-1 on n vertices which is obtained from a path on [1,2,?…?,n-g] vertices by adding g pendant vertices to the pendant vertex n-g. We prove that over all trees on n?≥?5 vertices, the distance between center and characteristic set, centroid and characteristic set, and center and centroid is maximized by trees of the form P_n-g,g , 2?≤?g?≤?n-3. For n≥ 5, we also supply the precise location of the characteristic set of the tree P_n-g,g , 2?≤?g?≤?n-3.     

Small Grid Embeddings of 3-Polytopes

We introduce an algorithm that embeds a given 3-connected planar graph as a convex 3-polytope with integer coordinates. The size of the coordinates is bounded by O(2^7.55n )=O(188 ⁿ ). If the graph contains a triangle we can bound the integer coordinates by O(2^4.82n ). If the graph contains a quadrilateral we can bound the integer coordinates by O(2^5.46n ). The crucial part of the algorithm is to find a convex plane embedding whose edges can be weighted such that the sum of the weighted edges, seen as vectors, cancel at every point. It is well known that this can be guaranteed for the interior vertices by applying a technique of Tutte. We show how to extend Tutte’s ideas to construct a plane embedding where the weighted vector sums cancel also on the vertices of the boundary face.     

Stability estimates for h-p spectral element methods for elliptic problems

In a series of papers of which this is the first we study how to solve elliptic problems on polygonal domains using spectral methods on parallel computers. To overcome the singularities that arise in a neighborhood of the corners we use a geometrical mesh. With this mesh we seek a solution which minimizes a weighted squared norm of the residuals in the partial differential equation and a fractional Sobolev norm of the residuals in the boundary conditions and enforce continuity by adding a term which measures the jump in the function and its derivatives at inter-element boundaries, in an appropriate fractional Sobolev norm, to the functional being minimized. Since the second derivatives of the actual solution are not square integrable in a neighborhood of the corners we have to multiply the residuals in the partial differential equation by an appropriate power of r_k, where r_k measures the distance between the pointP and the vertexA _k in a sectoral neighborhood of each of these vertices. In each of these sectoral neighborhoods we use a local coordinate system (τ_k, θ_k) where τ_k = lnr_k and (r_k, θ_k) are polar coordinates with origin at A_k, as first proposed by Kondratiev. We then derive differentiability estimates with respect to these new variables and a stability estimate for the functional we minimize. In [6] we will show that we can use the stability estimate to obtain parallel preconditioners and error estimates for the solution of the minimization problem which are nearly optimal as the condition number of the preconditioned system is polylogarithmic inN, the number of processors and the number of degrees of freedom in each variable on each element. Moreover if the data is analytic then the error is exponentially small inN.     

Single‐cell fourth‐order difference approximations for $${\font\twelvesl=cmsl10\partial {\sl\bf u}\over\partial {\sl\bf x}},{\partial \sl\bf u\over\partial\sl\bf y}$$ , and $${\font\twelvesl=cmsl10\partial {\sl\bf u}\over\partial{\sl\bf z}}$$ of the three‐dimensional quasi‐linear elliptic equation

Finite difference methods of O(h⁴) are proposed for obtaining estimates of first‐order partial derivatives of the solution of three‐dimensional quasi‐linear elliptic equation with mixed derivative terms subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions on a uniform cubic grid. In all the cases, we use a single computational cell and the methods are applicable to the problems both in cartesian and polar coordinates. The utility of the new methods is shown by testing the methods on three‐dimensional poisson solvers in polar coordinates. Some numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the methods discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 16: 417–425, 2000     

Single cell finite difference approximations of O(kh2 + h4) for ∂u/∂x for one space dimensional nonlinear parabolic equation

We report a new two‐level explicit finite difference method of O(kh² + h⁴) using three spatial grid points for the numerical solution of for the solution of one‐space dimensional nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation subject to appropriate initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions. The method is shown to be unconditionally stable when applied to a linear equation. The proposed method is applicable to the problems both in cartesian and polar coordinates. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 16: 408–415, 2000     

Some convexity considerations for a two-dimensional traction problem

Summary A rectangular strip, consisting of homogeneous, isotropic, elastic material, is in an equilibrium state of plane stress, due to actions applied to a pair of opposite edges, the remaining pair being traction-free. The convexity of certain cross-sectional measures of stress is established; and a generalized convexity property is also established for one such measure, leading to an explicit decay estimate for the measure in the case of a semi-infinite strip, one end of which is subjected to a self-equilibrated load.     

On one contact problem of plane elasticity theory with partially unknown boundary

Applications of elastic plates weakened with full-strength holes are of great interest in several mechanical constructions (building practice, in mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, aircraft construction, etc). It's proven that in case of infinite domains the minimum of tangential normal stresses (tangential normal moments) maximal values will be obtained on such contours, where these values maintain constant(the full strength holes). The solvability of these problems allow to control stress optimal distribution at the hole boundary via appropriate hole shape selection. The paper addresses a problem of plane elasticity theory for a doubly connected domain S on the plane z = x + iy, which external boundary is an isosceles trapezoid boundary; the internal boundary is required full-strength hole including the origin of coordinates. In the provided work the unknown full-strength contour and stressed state of the body were determined. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Facial non‐repetitive edge‐coloring of plane graphs

A sequence r₁, r₂, …, r_2n such that r_i=r_{n+ i} for all 1≤i≤n is called a repetition. A sequence S is called non‐repetitive if no block (i.e. subsequence of consecutive terms of S) is a repetition. Let G be a graph whose edges are colored. A trail is called non‐repetitive if the sequence of colors of its edges is non‐repetitive. If G is a plane graph, a facial non‐repetitive edge‐coloring of G is an edge‐coloring such that any facial trail (i.e. a trail of consecutive edges on the boundary walk of a face) is non‐repetitive. We denote π′_f(G) the minimum number of colors of a facial non‐repetitive edge‐coloring of G. In this article, we show that π′_f(G)≤8 for any plane graph G. We also get better upper bounds for π′_f(G) in the cases when G is a tree, a plane triangulation, a simple 3‐connected plane graph, a hamiltonian plane graph, an outerplanar graph or a Halin graph. The bound 4 for trees is tight. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66: 38–48, 2010     

Numerical analysis of a locking‐free mixed finite element method for a bending moment formulation of Reissner‐Mindlin plate model

This article deals with the approximation of the bending of a clamped plate, modeled by Reissner‐Mindlin equations. It is known that standard finite element methods applied to this model lead to wrong results when the thickness t is small. Here, we propose a mixed formulation based on the Hellinger‐Reissner principle which is written in terms of the bending moments, the shear stress, the rotations and the transverse displacement. To prove that the resulting variational formulation is well posed, we use the Babu?ka‐Brezzi theory with appropriate t ‐dependent norms. The problem is discretized by standard mixed finite elements without the need of any reduction operator. Error estimates are proved. These estimates have an optimal dependence on the mesh size h and a mild dependence on the plate thickness t. This allows us to conclude that the method is locking‐free. The proposed method yields direct approximation of the bending moments and the shear stress. A local postprocessing leading to H¹ ‐type approximations of transverse displacement and rotations is introduced. Moreover, we propose a hybridization procedure, which leads to solving a significantly smaller positive definite system. Finally, we report numerical experiments which allow us to assess the performance of the method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2013     

Global axisymmetric classical solutions of full compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations with vacuum free boundary and large initial data

In this paper,the global existence of the classical solution to the vacuum free boundary problem of full compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations with large initial data and axial symmetry is studied.The solutions to the system(1.6)–(1.8) are in the class of radius-dependent solutions,i.e.,independent of the axial variable and the angular variable.In particular,the expanding rate of the moving boundary is obtained.The main difficulty of this problem lies in the strong coupling of the magnetic field,velocity,temperature and the degenerate density near the free boundary.We overcome the obstacle by establishing the lower bound of the temperature by using different Lagrangian coordinates,and deriving the uniform-in-time upper and lower bounds of the Lagrangian deformation variable r;by weighted estimates,and also the uniform-in-time weighted estimates of the higher-order derivatives of solutions by delicate analysis.     

Brownian Motion and the Dirichlet Problem at Infinity on Two-dimensional Cartan-Hadamard Manifolds

After recalling the Dirichlet problem at infinity on a Cartan-Hadamard manifold, we describe what is known under various curvature assumptions and the difference between the two-dimensional and the higher-dimensional cases. We discuss the probabilistic formulation of the problem in terms of the asymptotic behavior of the angular component of Brownian motion. We then introduce a new (and appealing) probabilistic approach that allows us to prove that the Dirichlet problem at infinity on a two-dimensional Cartan-Hadamard manifold is solvable under the curvature condition K?≤?(1?+?ε)/(r ² logr) outside of a compact set, for some ε?>?0, in polar coordinates around some pole. This condition on the curvature is sharp, and improves upon the previously known case of quadratic curvature decay. Finally, we briefly discuss the issues which arise in trying to extend this method to higher dimensions.     

Regularity and a priori error analysis of a Ventcel problem in polyhedral domains

We consider the regularity of a mixed boundary value problem for the Laplace operator on a polyhedral domain, where Ventcel boundary conditions are imposed on one face of the polyhedron and Dirichlet boundary conditions are imposed on the complement of that face in the boundary. We establish improved regularity estimates for the trace of the variational solution on the Ventcel face and use them to derive a decomposition of the solution into a regular and a singular part that belongs to suitable weighted Sobolev spaces. This decomposition, in turn, via interpolation estimates both in the interior as well as on the Ventcel face, allows us to perform an a priori error analysis for the finite element approximation of the solution on anisotropic graded meshes. Numerical tests support the theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Diameter of a Hyperbolic Disc

Recently, Matti Vuorinen asked whether the set-theoretic diameter of a hyperbolic disc of radius r in a hyperbolic plane region Ω is 2r. The answer is affirmative if Ω is simply or doubly connected. However, there are a hyperbolic discs in the triply-punctured sphere whose set-theoretic diameter is less than twice the radius. Also, for finitely connected hyperbolic plane regions all hyperbolic discs sufficiently close to the boundary have set-theoretic diameter equal to twice the radius. Precisely, if Ω is a hyperbolic plane region of finite connectivity, then there is a compact subset K of Ω such that any hyperbolic disc which is disjoint from K has diameter equal to twice the radius.     

A general construction of barycentric coordinates over convex polygons

Barycentric coordinates are unique for triangles, but there are many possible generalizations to convex polygons. In this paper we derive sharp upper and lower bounds on all barycentric coordinates over convex polygons and use them to show that all such coordinates have the same continuous extension to the boundary. We then present a general approach for constructing such coordinates and use it to show that the Wachspress, mean value, and discrete harmonic coordinates all belong to a unifying one-parameter family of smooth three-point coordinates. We show that the only members of this family that are positive, and therefore barycentric, are the Wachspress and mean value ones. However, our general approach allows us to construct several sets of smooth five-point coordinates, which are positive and therefore barycentric. Dedicated to Charles A. Micchelli on his 60th Birthday Mathematics subject classifications (2000) 26C15, 65D05.