Finite element approximation of the elasticity spectral problem on curved domains

We analyze the finite element approximation of the spectral problem for the linear elasticity equation with mixed boundary conditions on a curved non-convex domain. In the framework of the abstract spectral approximation theory, we obtain optimal order error estimates for the approximation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Two kinds of problems are considered: the discrete domain does not coincide with the real one and mixed boundary conditions are imposed. Some numerical results are presented.     

A weak formulation of boundary integral equations,with application to elasticity problems

A weak formulation for ‘direct’ boundary methods, deduced from distribution theory, is presented. The present approach seems particularly profitable when dealing with problems having non-integrable singularities. Numerical examples are also reported for plane elasticity.     

Mixed impedance transmission problems for vibrating layered elastic bodies

Direct scattering problems for partially coated piecewise homogenous and inhomogeneous layered obstacles in linear elasticity lead to mixed impedance transmission problems for the steady‐state elastic oscillation equations. For a piecewise homogenous isotropic composite body, we employ the potential method and reduce the mixed impedance transmission problem to an equivalent system of boundary pseudodifferential equations. We give a detailed analysis of the corresponding pseudodifferential operators, which live on the interface between the layers and on a proper submanifold of the boundary of the composite elastic body, and establish uniqueness and existence results for the original mixed impedance transmission problem for arbitrary values of the oscillation frequency parameter; this is crucial in the study of inverse elastic scattering problems for partially coated layered obstacles. We also investigate regularity properties of solutions near the collision curves, where the different boundary conditions collide, and establish almost best Hölder smoothness results. Further, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of the stress vector near the collision curve and derive explicit formulas for the stress singularity exponents. The case of Lipschitz surfaces is briefly treated separately. In the case of a composite body containing homogeneous or inhomogeneous finite anisotropic inclusions, we develop an alternative hybrid method based on the so‐called nonlocal approach and reduce the mixed transmission problem to an equivalent functional‐variational equation with a sesquilinear form that ‘lives’ on a bounded part of the layered composite body and its boundary. We show that this sesquilinear form is coercive and that the corresponding variational equation is uniquely solvable. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Laplace and the linear elasticity problems near polyhedral corners and associated eigenvalue problems

For domains with concave corners, the solutions to elliptic boundary values have the typical r^α‐singularity. The so‐called singularity exponents α are the eigenvalues of an eigenvalue problem which is associated with the given boundary value problem. This paper is aimed at deriving the mentioned eigenvalue problems for two examples, the Laplace equation and the linear elasticity problem. We will show interesting properties of these eigenvalue problems. For the linear elasticity problem, we explain in addition why the classical symmetry and positivity assumptions of the material tensor have to be used with care. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Energy Inversion for Parameter Identification in Saddle Point Problems with an Application to the Elasticity Imaging Inverse Problem of Predicting Tumor Location

The primary objective of this work is a detailed theoretical and computational study of the elasticity imaging inverse problem for tumor identification within the human body. Apart from this inverse problem's important and interesting application, it also poses noteworthy mathematical challenges since the underlying mathematical model is a system of elasticity involving incompressibility. This gives rise to the “locking” effect and special treatment is necessary for both the direct and inverse problems. To study the inverse problem in an optimization framework, we introduce a general computational scheme for handling parameter identification in saddle point problems along with the introduction and analysis of a new energy output least-squares objective functionals. We also present a treatment of the identification of discontinuous elasticity coefficients using the total variation regularization method. General formulas for the computation of the coefficient-to-solution map and a complete convergence analysis are given for the continuous problem as well as for its discrete analogue. Discrete formulas and implementation issues are discussed in detail and numerical examples for smooth and discontinuous coefficients are given.     

Approximation of bone remodeling models

We present convergence results and error estimates concerning the numerical approximation of a class of bone remodeling models, that are elastic adaptive rod models. These are characterized by an elliptic variational equation, representing the equilibrium of the rod under the action of applied loads, coupled with an ordinary differential equation with respect to time, describing the physiological process of bone remodeling. We first consider the semi-discrete approximation, where only the space variables are discretized using the standard Galerkin method, and then, applying the forward Euler method for the time discretization, we focus on the fully discrete approximation.     

Transversality of stable and unstable manifolds for parabolic problems arising in composite materials

In this paper we study one dimensional parabolic problems that arise from composite materials. We show that the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the associated linear unbounded operator have the Sturm-Liouville property and the nonincrease of the lap number along the solutions. These results are used to show that the stable and unstable manifolds of equilibrium points are transversal.     

Multiscale finite element coarse spaces for the application to linear elasticity

We extend the multiscale finite element method (MsFEM) as formulated by Hou and Wu in [Hou T.Y., Wu X.-H., A multiscale finite element method for elliptic problems in composite materials and porous media, J. Comput. Phys., 1997, 134(1), 169–189] to the PDE system of linear elasticity. The application, motivated by the multiscale analysis of highly heterogeneous composite materials, is twofold. Resolving the heterogeneities on the finest scale, we utilize the linear MsFEM basis for the construction of robust coarse spaces in the context of two-level overlapping domain decomposition preconditioners. We motivate and explain the construction and show that the constructed multiscale coarse space contains all the rigid body modes. Under the assumption that the material jumps are isolated, that is they occur only in the interior of the coarse grid elements, our numerical experiments show uniform convergence rates independent of the contrast in Young’s modulus within the heterogeneous material. Elsewise, if no restrictions on the position of the high coefficient inclusions are imposed, robustness cannot be guaranteed any more. These results justify expectations to obtain coefficient-explicit condition number bounds for the PDE system of linear elasticity similar to existing ones for scalar elliptic PDEs as given in the work of Graham, Lechner and Scheichl [Graham I.G., Lechner P.O., Scheichl R., Domain decomposition for multiscale PDEs, Numer. Math., 2007, 106(4), 589–626]. Furthermore, we numerically observe the properties of the MsFEM coarse space for linear elasticity in an upscaling framework. Therefore, we present experimental results showing the approximation errors of the multiscale coarse space w.r.t. the fine-scale solution.     

Analysis of some projection method based preconditioners for models of incompressible flow

In this paper, several projection method based preconditioners for various incompressible flow models are studied. In the derivations of these projection method based preconditioners, we use three different types of the approximations of the inverse of the Schur complement, i.e., the exact inverse, the Cahouet–Chabard type approximation and the BFBt type approximation. We illuminate the connections and the distinctions between these projection method based preconditioners and those related preconditioners. For the preconditioners using the Cahouet–Chabard type approximation, we show that the eigenvalues of the preconditioned systems have uniform bounds independent of the parameters and most of them are equal to 1. The analysis is based on a detailed discussion of the commutator difference operator. Moreover, these results demonstrate the stability of the staggered grid discretization and reveal the effects of the boundary treatment. To further illustrate the effectiveness of these projection method based preconditioners, numerical experiments are given to compare their performances with those of the related preconditioners. Generalizations of the projection method based preconditioners to other saddle point problems are also discussed.     

Fast parallel solvers for symmetric boundary element domain decomposition equations

Summary. The boundary element method (BEM) is of advantage in many applications including far-field computations in magnetostatics and solid mechanics as well as accurate computations of singularities. Since the numerical approximation is essentially reduced to the boundary of the domain under consideration, the mesh generation and handling is simpler than, for example, in a finite element discretization of the domain. In this paper, we discuss fast solution techniques for the linear systems of equations obtained by the BEM (BE-equations) utilizing the non-overlapping domain decomposition (DD). We study parallel algorithms for solving large scale Galerkin BE–equations approximating linear potential problems in plane, bounded domains with piecewise homogeneous material properties. We give an elementary spectral equivalence analysis of the BEM Schur complement that provides the tool for constructing and analysing appropriate preconditioners. Finally, we present numerical results obtained on a massively parallel machine using up to 128 processors, and we sketch further applications to elasticity problems and to the coupling of the finite element method (FEM) with the boundary element method. As shown theoretically and confirmed by the numerical experiments, the methods are of algebraic complexity and of high parallel efficiency, where denotes the usual discretization parameter. Received August 28, 1996 / Revised version received March 10, 1997     

On the finite element method for elliptic problems with degenerate and singular coefficients

We consider Dirichlet boundary value problems for second order elliptic equations over polygonal domains. The coefficients of the equations under consideration degenerate at an inner point of the domain, or behave singularly in the neighborhood of that point. This behavior may cause singularities in the solution. The solvability of the problems is proved in weighted Sobolev spaces, and their approximation by finite elements is studied. This study includes regularity results, graded meshes, and inverse estimates. Applications of the theory to some problems appearing in quantum mechanics are given. Numerical results are provided which illustrate the theory and confirm the predicted rates of convergence of the finite element approximations for quasi-uniform meshes.

     

Explicit jump immersed interface method for virtual material design of the effective elastic moduli of composite materials

Virtual material design is the microscopic variation of materials in the computer, followed by the numerical evaluation of the effect of this variation on the material’s macroscopic properties. The goal of this procedure is an in some sense improved material. Here, we give examples regarding the dependence of the effective elastic moduli of a composite material on the geometry of the shape of an inclusion. A new approach on how to solve such interface problems avoids mesh generation and gives second order accurate results even in the vicinity of the interface. The Explicit Jump Immersed Interface Method is a finite difference method for elliptic partial differential equations that works on an equidistant Cartesian grid in spite of non-grid aligned discontinuities in equation parameters and solution. Near discontinuities, the standard finite difference approximations are modified by adding correction terms that involve jumps in the function and its derivatives. This work derives the correction terms for two dimensional linear elasticity with piecewise constant coefficients, i.e. for composite materials. It demonstrates numerically convergence and approximation properties of the method.      

Application of the pseudo-spectral method to 2D eigenvalue problems in elasticity

A pseudo-spectral approach to 2D vibrational problems arising in linear elasticity is considerede using differentiation matrices. The governing partial differential equations and associated boundary conditions on regular domains can be translated into matrix eigenvalue problems. Accurate results are obtained to the precision expected in spectral-type methods. However, we show that it is necessary to apply an additional “pole” condition to deal with ther=0 coordinate singularity arising in the case of a 2D disc.     

Nonlinear inversion of a band-limited Fourier transform

We consider the problem of reconstructing a compactly supported function with singularities either from values of its Fourier transform available only in a bounded interval or from a limited number of its Fourier coefficients. Our results are based on several observations and algorithms in [G. Beylkin, L. Monzón, On approximation of functions by exponential sums, Appl. Comput. Harmon. Anal. 19 (1) (2005) 17–48]. We avoid both the Gibbs phenomenon and the use of windows or filtering by constructing approximations to the available Fourier data via a short sum of decaying exponentials. Using these exponentials, we extrapolate the Fourier data to the whole real line and, on taking the inverse Fourier transform, obtain an efficient rational representation in the spatial domain. An important feature of this rational representation is that the positions of its poles indicate location of singularities of the function. We consider these representations in the absence of noise and discuss the impact of adding white noise to the Fourier data. We also compare our results with those obtained by other techniques. As an example of application, we consider our approach in the context of the kernel polynomial method for estimating density of states (eigenvalues) of Hermitian operators. We briefly consider the related problem of approximation by rational functions and provide numerical examples using our approach.     

A novel regularization method and application to load identification of composite laminated cylindrical shell

In this paper, a novel regularization method (MRO) is suggested to identify the multi-source dynamic loads on a surface of composite laminated cylindrical shell. Regularization methods can solve the di±culty of the solution of ill-conditioned inverse problems by the approximation of a family of neighbouring well-posed problems. Based on the construction of a new regularization operator, corresponding regularization method is established. We prove the stability of the proposed method according to suitable parameter choice strategy that leads to optimal convergence rate toward the minimalnorm and least square solution of an ill-posed linear operator equation in the presence of noisy data. Furthermore, numerical simulations show that the multi-source dynamic loads on a surface of composite laminated cylindrical shell are successfully identi¯ed, and demonstrate the e®ectiveness and robustness of the present method.     

Cavity identification in linear elasticity and thermoelasticity

The aim of this paper is an analysis of geometric inverse problems in linear elasticity and thermoelasticity related to the identification of cavities in two and three spatial dimensions. The overdetermined boundary data used for the reconstruction are the displacement and temperature on a part of the boundary. We derive identifiability results and directional stability estimates, the latter using the concept of shape derivatives, whose form is known in elasticity and newly derived for thermoelasticity. For numerical reconstructions we use a least‐squares formulation and a geometric gradient descent based on the associated shape derivatives. The directional stability estimates guarantee the stability of the gradient descent approach, so that an iterative regularization is obtained. This iterative scheme is then regularized by a level set approach allowing the reconstruction of multiply connected shapes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hypersingularities in three-dimensional crack configurations in composite laminates

Three-dimensional crack configurations in composite laminates are studied by means of the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) particularly regarding stress singularities and their associated deformation modes. The SBFEM is an efficient semi-analytical method that permits solving linear elastic mechanical problems. Only the boundary needs to be discretized while the problem is considered analytically in the direction of the dimensionless radial coordinate pointing from the scaling center to the boundary . An important advantage is that it requires no additional effort for the characterization of existing stress singularities. The situation of two meeting inter-fiber cracks is investigated in detail, considering different materials and fiber / crack orientations. It is shown that in three-dimensional crack configurations in composite laminates so-called hypersingularities can occur, i.e. stress singularities which are even stronger than the classical crack singularity. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mathematical problems of the theory of elasticity of chiral materials for Lipschitz domains

By the potential method, we investigate the Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems of the elasticity theory of hemitropic (chiral) materials in the case of Lipschitz domains. We study properties of the single‐ and double‐layer potentials and of certain, generated by them, boundary integral operators. These results are applied to reduce the boundary value problems to the equivalent first and the second kind integral equations and the uniqueness and existence theorems are proved in various function spaces. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weighted approximation by Bernstein quasiinterpolants for functions with singularities

We introduce a new type of modified Bernstein quasi-interpolants, which can be used to approximate functions with singularities. We establish direct, inverse, and equivalent theorems of the weighted approximation of this modified quasi-interpolants. Some classical results on approximation of continuous functions are generalized to the weighted approximation of functions with singularities.     

Reconstruction of a source domain from boundary measurements

Inverse and ill-posed problems which consist of reconstructing the unknown support of a source from a single pair of exterior boundary Cauchy data are investigated. The underlying dependent variable, e.g. potential, temperature or pressure, may satisfy the Laplace, Poisson, Helmholtz or modified Helmholtz partial differential equations (PDEs). For constant coefficients, the solutions of these elliptic PDEs are sought as linear combinations of explicitly available fundamental solutions (free-space Greens functions), as in the method of fundamental solutions (MFS). Prior to this application of the MFS, the free-term inhomogeneity represented by the intensity of the source is removed by the method of particular solutions. The resulting transmission problem then recasts as that of determining the interface between composite materials. In order to ensure a unique solution, the unknown source domain is assumed to be star-shaped. This in turn enables its boundary to be parametrized by the radial coordinate, as a function of the polar or, spherical angles. The problem is nonlinear and the numerical solution which minimizes the gap between the measured and the computed data is achieved using the Matlab toolbox routine lsqnonlin which is designed to minimize a sum of squares starting from an initial guess and with no gradient required to be supplied by the user. Simple bounds on the variables can also be prescribed. Since the inverse problem is still ill-posed with respect to small errors in the data and possibly additional ill-conditioning introduced by the spectral feature of the MFS approximation, the least-squares functional which is minimized needs to be augmented with regularizing penalty terms on the MFS coefficients and on the radial function for a stable estimation of these couple of unknowns. Thorough numerical investigations are undertaken for retrieving regular and irregular shapes of the source support from both exact and noisy input data.