Variational formulation of the material failure process in solids by embedded discontinuities model

This work presents a variational formulation of the material failure process, idealized as strain or displacement discontinuities, by weak, strong, or discrete embedded discontinuities into a continuum. It is shown that the solution of the proposed variational formulation may be approximated by different types of finite elements with embedded discontinuities. The developed displacement approximation of a finite element split by the discontinuity leads to a symmetric stiffness matrix, which considers not only the continuity of tractions but also the rigid body relative motions of the portions in which the element is split. The variational formulation of a continuum with more than one discontinuity in its interior is developed. It is shown that this formulation may lead to finite elements with embedded discontinuities that can be classified as displacement, force, mixed, and hybrid models. To show the effectiveness of the proposed formulation, the classical example of a bar under tension is solved using one and 2D finite element approximations. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009     

Eigenvalue and eigenfunction error estimates for finite element formulations of linear hydroelasticity

Convergence of an approximate method for determining vibrational eigenpairs of an elastic solid containing an incompressible fluid is examined. The field variables are solid displacement and fluid pressure. We show that in suitable Sobolev spaces a variational formulation exists whose solution eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are identified with those of a compact operator. A nonconforming finite element approximation of this variational problem is described and optimal a priori error estimates are obtained for both the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions.

     

Energy driven crack propagation at finite strains based on the embedded strong discontinuity approach

New advances in three-dimensional finite element modeling of crack propagation at finite strains are presented. The proposed numerical model is based on the Enhanced Assumed Strain concept. The enhanced part of the deformation gradient is associated with a displacement discontinuity. In contrast to previous works, a new, energy based criterion for crack propagation is presented. The necessity for a tracking algorithm for the crack path is avoided by using more than one discontinuity within each finite element. This leads to a strictly local formulation, i.e., no information about the neighboring elements are required. Further advantages of such a formulation are a symmetric tangent stiffness matrix and the reduction of locking effects. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Finite Element Approach for the Simulation of Quasi-Brittle Fracture

In the context of a strong discontinuity approach, we propose a finite element formulation with an embedded displacement discontinuity. The basic assumption of the proposed approach is the additive split of the total displacement field in a continuous and a discontinuous part. An arbitrary crack splits the linear triangular finite element into two parts, namely a triangular and a quadrilateral part. The discontinuous part of the displacement field in the quadrilateral portion is approximated using linear shape functions. For these purposes, the quadrilateral portion is divided into two triangular parts which is in this way similar to the approach proposed in [5]. In contrast, the discretisation is different compared to formulations proposed in [1] and [3], where the discontinuous part of the displacement field is approximated using bilinear shape functions. The basic theory of the underlying finite element formulation and a cohesive interface model to simulate brittle fracture are presented. By means of representative numerical examples differences and similarities of the present formulation and the formulations proposed in [1] and [3] are highlighted. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Advanced finite element formulations for modeling thin piezoelectric structures

This contribution is concerned with mixed finite element formulations for modeling piezoelectric beam and shell structures. Due to the electromechanical coupling, specific deformation modes are joined with electric field components. In bending dominated problems incompatible approximation functions of these fields cause incorrect results. These effects occur in standard finite element formulations, where interpolation functions of lowest order are used. A mixed variational approach is introduced to overcome these problems. The mixed formulation allows for a consistent approximation of the electromechanical coupled problem. It utilizes six independent fields and could be derived from a Hu-Washizu variational principle. Displacements, rotations and the electric potential are employed as nodal degrees of freedom. According to the Timoshenko theory (beam) and the Reissner-Mindlin theory (shell), the formulations account for constant transversal shear strains. To incorporate three dimensional constitutive relations all transversal components of the electric field and the strain field are enriched by mixed finite element interpolations. Thus the complete piezoelectric coupling is appropriately captured. The common assumption of vanishing transversal stress and dielectric displacement components is enforced in an integral sense. Some numerical examples will demonstrate the capability of the presented finite element formulation. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Piezoelectric Finite Shell Element for the Geometrically Nonlinear Analysis of Sensors

A geometrically nonlinear finite element formulation to analyze piezoelectric shell structures is presented. The formulation is based on the mixed field variational functional of Hu–Washizu. Within this variational principle the independent fields are displacements, electric potential, strains, electric field, stresses and dielectric displacements. The mixed formulation allows an interpolation of the strains and the electric field through the shell thickness, which is an essential advantage when using a three dimensional material law. It is remarked that no simplification regarding the constitutive relation is assumed. The normal zero stress condition and the normal zero dielectric displacement condition are enforced by the independent resultant stress and resultant dielectric displacement fields. The shell structure is modeled by a reference surface with a four node element. Each node possesses six mechanical degrees of freedom, three displacements and three rotations, and one electrical degree of freedom, which is the difference of the electric potential through the shell thickness. The developed mixed hybrid shell element fulfills the in–plane, bending and shear patch tests, which have been adopted for coupled field problems. A numerical investigation of a smart antenna demonstrates the applicability of the piezoelectric shell element under the consideration of geometrical nonlinearity. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A time finite element method for structural dynamics

A time (Galerkin) finite element method (time FEM) for structural dynamics is proposed in this paper. The key lies in a variational formulation that is well-posed and equivalent to the conventional strong form of governing equations of structural dynamics. Based on the variational formulation, a time finite element formulation is naturally established and its convergence property is easily derived through an a priori error analysis. Technical details on practical implementation of the time FEM are presented. Numerical examples are studied to verify the proposed time FEM.     

Stabilized dual-mixed method for the problem of linear elasticity with mixed boundary conditions

We extend the applicability of the augmented dual-mixed method introduced recently in Gatica (2007), Gatica et al. (2009) to the problem of linear elasticity with mixed boundary conditions. The method is based on the Hellinger–Reissner principle and the symmetry of the stress tensor is imposed in a weak sense. The Neumann boundary condition is prescribed in the finite element space. Then, suitable Galerkin least-squares type terms are added in order to obtain an augmented variational formulation which is coercive in the whole space. This allows to use any finite element subspaces to approximate the displacement, the Cauchy stress tensor and the rotation.     

Stabilized Nonconforming Mixed Finite Element Method for Linear Elasticity on Rectangular or Cubic Meshes

Based on the primal mixed variational formulation, a stabilized nonconforming mixed finite element method is proposed for the linear elasticity on rectangular and cubic meshes. Two kinds of penalty terms are introduced in the stabilized mixed formulation, which are the jump penalty term for the displacement and the divergence penalty term for the stress. We use the classical nonconforming rectangular and cubic elements for the displacement and the discontinuous piecewise polynomial space for the stress, where the discrete space for stress are carefully chosen to guarantee the well-posedness of discrete formulation. The stabilized mixed method is locking-free. The optimal convergence order is derived in the $L^2$-norm for stress and in the broken $H^1$-norm and $L^2$-norm for displacement. A numerical test is carried out to verify the optimal convergence of the stabilized method.     

基于对偶混合变分形式的Uzawa型算法

基于弹性接触问题的三变量（应力，位移，接触边界位移）对偶混合变分形式，对混合有限元离散化的单边约束问题，提出了一种Uzawa型算法。首先证明了迭代算法的收敛性，然后用数值例子验证了迭代算法的有效性。     

Variational formulation of the problem of retained viscoplastic oil

A variational formulation is given for the problem of determining the limiting equilibrium of retained viscoplastic oil during its displacement with water from a stratified bed. It is shown that the basic approximation of the formulation admitting of an effective solution by the methods of the plane problem of non-linear filtering /1–5/ follows naturally from the variational formulation proposed, provided that the class of functions in which the solution is sought is restricted. Some estimates of the volume of the bed from which the oil is displaced are obtained on the basis of the variational formulation.     

A mixed finite element formulation for piezoelectric shells

A finite element formulation to analyze piezoelectric shell problems is presented. A reference surface of the shell is modelled with a four node element. Each node possesses six mechanical degrees of freedom, three displacements and three rotations, and one electric degree of freedom, which is the difference of the electric potential in thickness direction. The formulation is based on the mixed field variational principle of Hu-Washizu. The independent fields are displacements u , electric potential φ, strains E , electric field E , stresses S and dielectric displacements D . The mixed formulation allows an interpolation of the strains and the electric field in thickness direction. Accordingly a three-dimensional material law is incorporated in the variational formulation. It is remarked that no simplification regarding the constitutive law is assumed. The formulation allows the consideration of arbitrary constitutive relations. The normal zero stress condition and the normal zero dielectric displacement condition are enforced by the independent stress and dielectric displacement fields. They are defined as zero in thickness direction. The present shell element fulfills the important patch tests: the in-plane, bending and shear test. Some numerical examples demonstrate the applicability of the present piezoelectric shell element. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A fully variational algorithmic formulation for wrinkling at finite strains

This contribution is concerned with an efficient novel algorithmic formulation for wrinkling at finite strains. In contrast to previously published numerical implementations, the advocated method is fully variational. More precisely, the parameters describing wrinkles or slacks, together with the unknown deformation mapping, are computed jointly by minimizing the potential energy of the considered mechanical system. Furthermore, the wrinkling criteria are naturally included within the presented variational framework. The presented approach allows to employ three–dimensional constitutive models directly, i.e., plane stress conditions characterizing membranes are variationally enforced by minimizing the potential energy with respect to the transversal strains. Since the proposed formulation for wrinkling in membranes is fully variational, it can be conveniently combined with other variational methods (based on energy minimization). As an example, a variationally consistent framework for finite strain plasticity theory is considered. More precisely, the minimization principle characterizing wrinkling in elastic membranes and that describing plasticity in inelastic solids are coupled leading to a novel variational approach for inelastic membranes. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Advanced Shell Element Formulations for Coupled Electromechanical Systems

With the significantly increasing applications of smart structures, piezoelectric material is widely used in branches of engineering sciences. Normally, the Finite Element Method is employed in the numerical analysis of these structures [2]. In this contribution, in order to avoid the locking effects and zero energy modes, the Assumed Natural Strain (ANS) Method [4] is implemented into four‐node piezoelectric shallow shell elements, by using the two‐field variational formulation in which displacements and electric potentials serve as independent variables and the three‐field variational formulation in which the dielectric displacement is taken as an independent variable additionally [3]. Moreover, a quadratic variation of the electric potential through the thickness direction is applied in the two‐field formulation. Numerical examples of piezoelectric sensors and actuators are presented, showing the behaviour of the shell elements by using different hybrid finite element formulations. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On an Energetic Interpretation of a Phase Field Model for Fracture

In the pioneering work by Griffith, it is assumed that a crack propagates, if this is energetically favorable. However, this original formulation requires a pre-existing initial crack. In order to bypass this deficiency of classical Griffith theory, Francfort and Marigo advocate a global variational criterion, where the total energy is minimized with respect to any admissible displacement field and crack set. Bourdin's regularized approximation of this variational formulation makes use of a continuous scalar field to indicate cracks. Based on this regularization a phase field fracture model is formulated. The crack field is assumed to follow a Ginzburg-Landau type evolution equation, and cracking is addressed as a phase transition problem. The coupled problem of mechanical balance equations and the evolution equation is solved using the finite element method combined with an implicit time integration scheme. The numerical solution naturally yields the crack evolution including crack propagation, kinking, branching and initiation without any additional criteria. In this work we study the driving mechanisms behind the crack evolution in the phase field fracture model and compare to the purely energetic considerations of the underlying variational formulation. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Finite strain inelasticity for isotropy,a simple and efficient finite element formulation

We consider a formulation of associative isotropic J₂‐elastoplasticity at finite inelastic strains and aspects of its numerical implementation. The essential ingredients include the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient in elastic and inelastic parts, the definition of a convex elastic domain in stress space and a material representation of the constitutive equations for general non‐Cartesian coordinate charts. On the numerical side we propose a stress update algorithm for elasto‐plastic response, including isotropic hardening. The finite element formulation is based on assumed strain and enhanced strain variational principles, for a complete outline see [3]. Remarkably the formulation is very similar to the case of infinitesimal plasticity: (i) The scheme of linear return mapping algorithm takes the form of standard return mapping of the infinitesimal theory for the case of isotropic elastic response. (ii) The algorithmic elastoplastic moduli have a similar structure as in the linear case. Together with an exact fulfillment of plastic incompressibility by means of a simple correction one achieves an advantageously efficient finite element formulation. Its performance is documented by a numerical example.     

A variational approach for large deflection of ends supported nanorod under a uniformly distributed load,using intrinsic coordinate finite elements

This paper presents a variational formulation that can be used for large deflection analysis of ends supported nanorod including the coupled effects of nonlocal elasticity and surface stress under a uniformly distributed load. The variational formulation involving the strain energy due to bending of nonlocal elasticity including the surface stress effect and virtual work done by a uniformly distributed load, is expressed in terms of the intrinsic coordinates. The Lagrange multiplier technique is applied to impose the boundary conditions which accomplished in the formulation. The validity of the variational approach is ensured by Euler's equation, which identical to the one derived by the force equilibrium consideration of an infinitesimal nanorod segment. The finite element method and Newton–Raphson iterative procedure based on the variational formulation are used to solve a system of nonlinear equations. Moreover, the very large deflection configurations of ends supported nanorod are highlighted in this study.     

Extended Finite Element Method for hygro-mechanical analysis of crack propagation in porous materials

In computational structural analyses, strong discontinuities, such as propagating cracks in concrete structures, joints in rocks or shear bands in soft soils, the highly accelerated moisture transport in the opening discontinuities has to be taken into account. The paper is concerned with an Extended Finite Element model for the numerical representation of crack propagation in partially saturated porous materials. Based on an extended variational formulation for the simulation of moisture transport in cracks, enhanced approximations of the displacement field and the moisture flux across the discontinuity are adopted. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Approximation of functionally graded plates with non-conforming finite elements

In this paper rectangular plates made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are studied. A two-constituent material distribution through the thickness is considered, varying with a simple power rule of mixture. The equations governing the FGM plates are determined using a variational formulation arising from the Reissner–Mindlin theory. To approximate the problem a simple locking-free Discontinuous Galerkin finite element of non-conforming type is used, choosing a piecewise linear non-conforming approximation for both rotations and transversal displacement. Several numerical simulations are carried out in order to show the capability of the proposed element to capture the properties of plates of various gradings, subjected to thermo-mechanical loads.     

Analysis of a bilinear finite element for shallow shells I: Approximation of inextensional deformations

We consider a bilinear reduced-strain finite element formulation for a shallow shell model of Reissner-Naghdi type. The formulation is closely related to the facet models used in engineering practice. We estimate the error of this scheme when approximating an inextensional displacement field. We make the strong assumptions that the domain and the finite element mesh are rectangular and that the boundary conditions are periodic and the mesh uniform in one of the coordinate directions. We prove then that for sufficiently smooth fields, the convergence rate in the energy norm is of optimal order uniformly with respect to the shell thickness. In case of elliptic shell geometry the error bound is furthermore quasioptimal, whereas in parabolic and hyperbolic geometries slightly enhanced smoothness is required, except for the degenerate cases where the characteristic lines are parallel with the mesh lines. The error bound is shown to be sharp.