Solvability of a dynamic contact problem between a piezoelectric body and a conductive foundation

We consider a mathematical model which describes the dynamic process of contact between a piezoelectric body and an electrically conductive foundation. We model the material’s behavior with a nonlinear electro-viscoelastic constitutive law; the contact is frictionless and is described with the normal compliance condition and a regularized electrical conductivity condition. We derive a variational formulation for the problem and then, under a smallness assumption on the data, we prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the model. We also investigate the behavior of the solution with respect the electric data on the contact surface and prove a continuous dependence result. Then, we introduce a fully discrete scheme, based on the finite element method to approximate the spatial variable and the backward Euler scheme to discretize the time derivatives. We treat the contact by using a penalized approach and a version of Newton’s method. We implement this scheme in a numerical code and, in order to verify its accuracy, we present numerical simulations in the study of two-dimensional test problems. These simulations provide a numerical validation of our continuous dependence result and illustrate the effects of the conductivity of the foundation, as well.     

Analysis of a quasistatic contact problem for piezoelectric materials

We consider a mathematical model which describes the frictional contact between a piezoelectric body and an electrically conductive foundation. The process is quasistatic, the material behavior is modeled with an electro-viscoelastic constitutive law and the contact is described with subdifferential boundary conditions. We derive the variational formulation of the problem which is in the form of a system involving two history-dependent hemivariational inequalities in which the unknowns are the velocity and electric potential field. Then we prove the existence of a unique weak solution to the model. The proof is based on a recent result on history-dependent hemivariational inequalities obtained in Migórski et al. (submitted for publication) [16].     

The study of the dynamic contact in ultrasonic motor

In this paper, we consider a mathematical model which describes the dynamic contact between an elastic body and an obstacle. The process is assumed to be dynamic and the contact is modeled with the normal compliance. We present a variational formulation of the problem and prove the existence and the uniqueness of a weak solution. An efficient numerical method is presented to analyze this dynamic contact. This approach exploits the augmented Lagrangian concept and a special time integration algorithm. This is exploited to study the dynamic contact between the rotor and the stator inside an ultrasonic motor SHINSEI USR 60. Numerical results are presented and show the interest of this method to forecast the origin of the principal failure mode of this motor.     

Analysis and numerical solution of a piezoelectric frictional contact problem

We consider a mathematical model which describes the frictional contact between an electro-elastic–visco-plastic body and a conductive foundation. The contact is modelled with normal compliance and a version of Coulomb’s law of dry friction, in which the stiffness and the friction coefficients depend on the electric potential. We derive a variational formulation of the problem and we prove an existence and uniqueness result. The proof is based on a recent existence and uniqueness result on history-dependent quasivariational inequalities obtained in [15]. Then we introduce a fully discrete scheme for solving the problem and, under certain solution regularity assumptions, we derive an optimal order error estimate. Finally, we present some numerical results in the study of a two-dimensional test problem which describes the process of contact in a microelectromechanical switch.     

Nonlinear explicit analysis and study of the behaviour of a new ring-type brake energy dissipator by FEM and experimental comparison

The aim of this paper is to comprehensively analyse the performance of a new ring-type brake energy dissipator through the finite element method (FEM) (formulation and finite element approximation of contact in nonlinear mechanics) and experimental comparison. This new structural device is used as a system component in rockfall barriers and fences and it is composed of steel bearing ropes, bent pipes and aluminium compression sleeves. The bearing ropes are guided through pipes bent into double-loops and held by compression sleeves. These elements work as brake rings. In important events the brake rings contract and so dissipate residual energy out of the ring net, without damaging the ropes. The rope’s breaking load is not diminished by activation of the brake. The full understanding of this problem implies the simultaneous study of three nonlinearities: material nonlinearity (plastic behaviour) and failure criteria, large displacements (geometric nonlinearity) and friction-contact phenomena among brake ring components. The explicit dynamic analysis procedure is carried out by means of the implementation of an explicit integration rule together with the use of diagonal element mass matrices. The equations of motion for the brake ring are integrated using the explicit central difference integration rule. The presence of the contact phenomenon implies the existence of inequality constraints. The conditions for normal contact are and gλ=0, where λ is the normal traction component and g is the gap function for the contact surface pair. To include frictional conditions, let us assume that Coulomb’s law of friction holds pointwise on the different contact surfaces, μ being the dynamic coefficient of friction. Next, we define the non-dimensional variable τ by means of the expression τ=t/μλ, where μλ is the frictional resistance and t is the tangential traction component. In order to find the best brake performance, different dynamic friction coefficients corresponding to the pressures of the compression sleeves have been adopted and simulated numerically by FEM and then we have compared them with the results from full-scale experimental tests. Finally, the most important conclusions of this study are given.     

Numerical analysis of a bilateral frictional contact problem for linearly elastic materials

We consider a mathematical model which describes the contactbetween a linearly elastic body and an obstacle, the so-calledfoundation. The process is quasistatic and the contact is bilateral,i.e. there is no loss of contact during the process. The frictionis modelled with Tresca's law. The variational formulation ofthe problem is a nonlinear evolutionary inequality for the displacementfield which has a unique solution under certain assumptionson the given data. We study spatially semi-discrete and fullydiscrete schemes for the problem with finite-difference discretizationin time and finite-element discretization in space. The numericalschemes have unique solutions. We show the convergence of thescheme under the basic solution regularity. Under appropriateregularity assumptions on the solution, we derive optimal ordererror estimates. Finally, we present numerical results in thestudy of two-dimensional test problems.     

A new model for the analysis of reinforced concrete members with a coupled HdBNM/FEM

As a truly boundary-type meshless method, the hybrid boundary node method (HdBNM) does not require ‘boundary element mesh’, either for the purpose of interpolation of the solution variables or for the integration of ‘energy’. In this paper, the HdBNM is coupled with the finite element method (FEM) for predicting the mechanical behaviors of reinforced concrete. The steel bars are considered as body forces in the concrete. A bond model is presented to simulate the bond-slip between the concrete and steels using fictitious spring elements. The computational scale and cost for meshing can be further reduced. Numerical examples, in 2D and 3D cases, demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

Error estimates of the finite element method for the exterior Helmholtz problem with a modified DtN boundary condition

A priori error estimates in the H¹- and L²-norms are established for the finite element method applied to the exterior Helmholtz problem, with modified Dirichlet-to-Neumann (MDtN) boundary condition. The error estimates include the effect of truncation of the MDtN boundary condition as well as that of discretization of the finite element method. The error estimate in the L²-norm is sharper than that obtained by the author [D. Koyama, Error estimates of the DtN finite element method for the exterior Helmholtz problem, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 200 (1) (2007) 21-31] for the truncated DtN boundary condition.     

Numerical analysis of an energy-like minimization method to solve the Cauchy problem with noisy data

This paper is concerned with solving the Cauchy problem for an elliptic equation by minimizing an energy-like error functional and by taking into account noisy Cauchy data. After giving some fundamental results, numerical convergence analysis of the energy-like minimization method is carried out and leads to adapted stopping criteria for the minimization process depending on the noise rate. Numerical examples involving smooth and singular data are presented.     

Non-linear analysis of the consolidation of an elastic saturated soil with incompressible fluid and variable permeability by FEM

Research interest in the mechanical behaviour of soils is growing as a result of an increasing number of geomechanical problems involving consolidation effects. The main aim of this paper is to validate and to solve a model for consolidation of an elastic saturated soil with incompressible fluid and variable permeability. Firstly, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the variational problem corresponding to an initial and boundary value problem (IBVP): a special case of the Biot’s ‘consolidation of clay’ model (where the applied forces depend on time). Secondly, we prove the convergence of the method using a technique based on the proof of solution’s existence. Finally, we then solved this constitutive model by the finite element method (FEM) employing repeated fixed point techniques in order to obtain the results for displacement and pore water pressure. The pore fluid is considered incompressible. The results of the numerical experiments are compared with analytical solutions and, in cases where such solutions do not exist, with experimental data. Therefore, the model can be used for quantitative predictions of consolidation behaviour of soils with permeability dependent on the settlement.     

Finite element dynamic analysis of unsymmetric composite laminated beams with shear effect and rotary inertia under the action of moving loads

The finite element dynamic response of an unsymmetric composite laminated orthotropic beam, subjected to moving loads, has been studied. One-dimensional finite element based on classical lamination theory, first-order shear deformation theory, and higher-order shear deformation theory having 16, 20 and 24 degrees of freedom, respectively, are developed to study the effects of extension, bending, and transverse shear deformation. The theories also account for the Poisson effect, thus, the lateral strains and curvatures can be expressed in terms of the axial and transverse strains and curvatures and the characteristic couplings (bend–stretch, shear–stretch and bend–twist couplings) are not lost. The dynamic response of symmetric cross-ply and unsymmetric angle-ply laminated beams under the action of a moving load have been compared to the results of an isotropic simple beam. The formulation also has been applied to the static and free vibration analysis.