A priori mesh quality metric error analysis applied to a high-order finite element method

Characterization of computational mesh’s quality prior to performing a numerical simulation is an important step in insuring that the result is valid. A highly distorted mesh can result in significant errors. It is therefore desirable to predict solution accuracy on a given mesh. The HiFi/SEL high-order finite element code is used to study the effects of various mesh distortions on solution quality of known analytic problems for spatial discretizations with different order of finite elements. The measured global error norms are compared to several mesh quality metrics by independently varying both the degree of the distortions and the order of the finite elements. It is found that the spatial spectral convergence rates are preserved for all considered distortion types, while the total error increases with the degree of distortion. For each distortion type, correlations between the measured solution error and the different mesh metrics are quantified, identifying the most appropriate overall mesh metric. The results show promise for future a priori computational mesh quality determination and improvement.     

A multiscale hp-FEM for 2D photonic crystal bands

A multiscale generalised hp-finite element method (MSFEM) for time harmonic wave propagation in bands of locally periodic media of large, but finite extent, e.g., photonic crystal (PhC) bands, is presented. The method distinguishes itself by its size robustness, i.e., to achieve a prescribed error its computational effort does not depend on the number of periods. The proposed method shows this property for general incident fields, including plane waves incident at a certain angle to the infinite crystal surface, and at frequencies in and outside of the bandgap of the PhC. The proposed MSFEM is based on a precomputed problem adapted multiscale basis. This basis incorporates a set of complex Bloch modes, the eigenfunctions of the infinite PhC, which are modulated by macroscopic piecewise polynomials on a macroscopic FE mesh. The multiscale basis is shown to be efficient for finite PhC bands of any size, provided that boundary effects are resolved with a simple macroscopic boundary layer mesh. The MSFEM, constructed by combing the multiscale basis inside the crystal with some exterior discretisation, is a special case of the generalised finite element method (g-FEM). For the rapid evaluation of the matrix entries we introduce a size robust algorithm for integrals of quasi-periodic micro functions and polynomial macro functions. Size robustness of the present MSFEM in both, the number of basis functions and the computation time, is verified in extensive numerical experiments.     

Modeling of wall pressure fluctuations for finite element structural analysis

This paper investigates a modeling technique of wall pressure fluctuations (WPF) due to turbulent boundary layer flows on a surface for finite element structural analysis. This study is motivated by critical issues of structural vibrations due to turbulent WPF over the surface of a body. The WPFs are characterized with random behavior in time and space. The temporal and spatial random behavior of the WPFs is mathematically expressed in the form of the auto- and cross-power spectral density functions (PSDF) in the frequency domain (e.g., Corcos Model). For finite element modeling of the random distributed fluctuations, the cross-PSDF is properly modeled over the finite element structural mesh. The quality of modeling of the cross-PSDF is directly affected by the structural mesh size. We first examine the maximum mesh size required for reliable finite element analysis. The reliability of the FEA results is confirmed by the theoretical results. It is found that the maximum mesh size should be determined under consideration of the spatial distribution of the cross-PSDF in addition to the representation of dynamic behavior of the structure in the frequency range of interest. It is also recognized that the requirement of the maximum mesh size is unrealistic in many practical cases. We then investigate practical modeling schemes under a realistic mesh size condition. We found that the WPF can be modeled without the exact consideration of cross-correlation if the power due to the wall pressure fluctuation can be properly compensated. This is owing to the feature of decreasing the cross-correlation of WPFs at high frequencies and the fact that the WPF does weakly couple into the structural modes at high wavenumbers such that 2πf/U_c<k_max. The wall pressure fluctuations can therefore be modeled as uncorrelated loadings with power compensations.     

Non-uniform order mixed FEM approximation: Implementation,post-processing,computable error bound and adaptivity

The present work provides a straightforward and focused set of tools and corresponding theoretical support for the implementation of an adaptive high order finite element code with guaranteed error control for the approximation of elliptic problems in mixed form. The work contains: details of the discretisation using non-uniform order mixed finite elements of arbitrarily high order; a new local post-processing scheme for the primary variable; the use of the post-processing scheme in the derivation of new, fully computable bounds for the error in the flux variable; and, an hp-adaptive refinement strategy based on the a posteriori error estimator. Numerical examples are presented illustrating the results obtained when the procedure is applied to a challenging problem involving a ten-pole electric motor with singularities arising from both geometric features and discontinuities in material properties. The procedure is shown to be capable of producing high accuracy numerical approximations with relatively modest numbers of unknowns.     

Phase reduction models for improving the accuracy of the finite element solution of time-harmonic scattering problems I: General approach and low-order models

This paper introduces a new formulation of high frequency time-harmonic scattering problems in view of a numerical finite element solution. It is well-known that pollution error causes inaccuracies in the finite element solution of short-wave problems. To partially avoid this precision problem, the strategy proposed here consists in firstly numerically computing at a low cost an approximate phase of the exact solution through asymptotic propagative models. Secondly, using this approximate phase, a slowly varying unknown envelope is introduced and is computed using coarser mesh grids. The global procedure is called Phase Reduction. In this first paper, the general theoretical procedure is developed and low-order propagative models are numerically investigated in detail. Improved solutions based on higher order models are discussed showing the potential of the method for further developments.     

Accuracy of three-point finite difference approximations for optical waveguides with step-wise refractive index discontinuities

A rigorous truncation error analysis of three-point finite difference approximations for optical waveguides with step-wise refractive index discontinuities is given. As the basis for the analysis we use the exact coefficients of the series that expresses the field value at a given finite difference node in terms of the field value and its derivatives at a neighbouring node. This series is applied to develop a rigorous formalism for the truncation error analysis of the three-point finite difference approximations used in the numerical modelling of light propagation in optical waveguides with step-wise discontinuities of the refractive index profile. The results show that the approximations reach O(h²) truncation error only asymptotically for sufficiently small values of the mesh size.     

Optimal Convergence Analysis of Two-Level Nonconforming Finite Element Iterative Methods for 2D/3D MHD Equations

Several two-level iterative methods based on nonconforming finite element methods are applied for solving numerically the 2D/3D stationary incompressible MHD equations under different uniqueness conditions. These two-level algorithms are motivated by applying the m iterations on a coarse grid and correction once on a fine grid. A one-level Oseen iterative method on a fine mesh is further studied under a weak uniqueness condition. Moreover, the stability and error estimate are rigorously carried out, which prove that the proposed methods are stable and effective. Finally, some numerical examples corroborate the effectiveness of our theoretical analysis and the proposed methods.     

Fully anisotropic goal-oriented mesh adaptation for 3D steady Euler equations

This paper studies the coupling between anisotropic mesh adaptation and goal-oriented error estimate. The former is very well suited to the control of the interpolation error. It is generally interpreted as a local geometric error estimate. On the contrary, the latter is preferred when studying approximation errors for PDEs. It generally involves non local error contributions. Consequently, a full and strong coupling between both is hard to achieve due to this apparent incompatibility. This paper shows how to achieve this coupling in three steps.First, a new a priori error estimate is proved in a formal framework adapted to goal-oriented mesh adaptation for output functionals. This estimate is based on a careful analysis of the contributions of the implicit error and of the interpolation error. Second, the error estimate is applied to the set of steady compressible Euler equations which are solved by a stabilized Galerkin finite element discretization. A goal-oriented error estimation is derived. It involves the interpolation error of the Euler fluxes weighted by the gradient of the adjoint state associated with the observed functional. Third, rewritten in the continuous mesh framework, the previous estimate is minimized on the set of continuous meshes thanks to a calculus of variations. The optimal continuous mesh is then derived analytically. Thus, it can be used as a metric tensor field to drive the mesh adaptation. From a numerical point of view, this method is completely automatic, intrinsically anisotropic, and does not depend on any a priori choice of variables to perform the adaptation.3D examples of steady flows around supersonic and transsonic jets are presented to validate the current approach and to demonstrate its efficiency.     

Reduced basis finite element heterogeneous multiscale method for high-order discretizations of elliptic homogenization problems

A new finite element method for the efficient discretization of elliptic homogenization problems is proposed. These problems, characterized by data varying over a wide range of scales cannot be easily solved by classical numerical methods that need mesh resolution down to the finest scales and multiscale methods capable of capturing the large scale components of the solution on macroscopic meshes are needed. Recently, the finite element heterogeneous multiscale method (FE-HMM) has been proposed for such problems, based on a macroscopic solver with effective data recovered from the solution of micro problems on sampling domains at quadrature points of a macroscopic mesh. Departing from the approach used in the FE-HMM, we show that interpolation techniques based on the reduced basis methodology (an offline-online strategy) allow one to design an efficient numerical method relying only on a small number of accurately computed micro solutions. This new method, called the reduced basis finite element heterogeneous multiscale method (RB-FE-HMM) is significantly more efficient than the FE-HMM for high order macroscopic discretizations and for three-dimensional problems, when the repeated computation of micro problems over the whole computational domain is expensive. A priori error estimates of the RB-FE-HMM are derived. Numerical computations for two and three dimensional problems illustrate the applicability and efficiency of the numerical method.     

Error Analysis and Adaptive Methods of Least Squares Nonconforming Finite Element for the Transport Equations

In this paper, we consider a least squares nonconforming finite element of low order for solving the transport equations. We give a detailed overview on the stability and the convergence properties of our considered methods in the stability norm. Moreover, we derive residual type a posteriori error estimates for the least squares nonconforming finite element methods under $H^{−1}$-norm, which can be used as the error indicators to guide the mesh refinement procedure in the adaptive finite element method. The theoretical results are supported by a series of numerical experiments.     

一类各项异性半线性椭圆方程自然边界元与有限元耦合法

将冯康和余德浩提出的自然边界归化方法用于研究一类半线性椭圆方程外区域问题，提出一种自然边界元与有限元的耦合算法、针对某一类半线性椭圆方程，应用变分原理，研究其弱解性及Galerkin逼近，得到有限元解的误差估计及收敛阶O(h^n)，最后给出相应数值例子。     

A posteriori error estimation and adaptive mesh refinement for a multiscale operator decomposition approach to fluid–solid heat transfer

We analyze a multiscale operator decomposition finite element method for a conjugate heat transfer problem consisting of a fluid and a solid coupled through a common boundary. We derive accurate a posteriori error estimates that account for all sources of error, and in particular the transfer of error between fluid and solid domains. We use these estimates to guide adaptive mesh refinement. In addition, we provide compelling numerical evidence that the order of convergence of the operator decomposition method is limited by the accuracy of the transferred gradient information, and adapt a so-called boundary flux recovery method developed for elliptic problems in order to regain the optimal order of accuracy in an efficient manner. In an appendix, we provide an argument that explains the numerical results provided sufficient smoothness is assumed.     

Two-Level Newton Iteration Methods for Navier-Stokes Type Variational Inequality Problem

This paper deals with the two-level Newton iteration method based on the pressure projection stabilized finite element approximation to solve the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes type variational inequality problem. We solve a small Navier-Stokes problem on the coarse mesh with mesh size $H$ and solve a large linearized Navier-Stokes problem on the fine mesh with mesh size $h$. The error estimates derived show that if we choose $h=\mathcal{O}(|\log h|^{1/2}H^3)$, then the two-level method we provide has the same $H^1$ and $L^2$ convergence orders of the velocity and the pressure as the one-level stabilized method. However, the $L^2$ convergence order of the velocity is not consistent with that of one-level stabilized method. Finally, we give the numerical results to support the theoretical analysis.     

Variational multiscale element-free Galerkin method for 2D Burgers’ equation

A new numerical method, which is based on the coupling between variational multiscale method and meshfree methods, is developed for 2D Burgers’ equation with various values of Re. The proposed method takes full advantage of meshfree methods, therefore, no mesh generation and mesh recreation are involved. Meanwhile, compared with the variational multiscale finite element method, a strong assumption, that is, the fine scale vanishes identically over the element boundaries although non-zero within the elements, is not needed. Subsequently two problems which have an available analytical solution of their own are solved to analyze the convergence behaviour of the proposed method. Finally a 2D Burgers’ equation having large Re is solved and the results have also been compared with the ones computed by two other methods. The numerical results show that the proposed method can indeed obtain accurate numerical results for 2D Burgers’ equation having large Re, which does not refer to the choice of a proper stabilization parameter.     

FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE RECTANGULAR MEMBRANES WITH AN OBLIQUE INTERFACE

The natural frequencies and mode shapes of a composite rectangular membrane with no exact solutions are found by using an analytical method appropriate for the geometric feature of the title problem membrane presented here. The method has a key feature in which the theoretical development is very simple and only a small amount of numerical calculation is required. Example studies show that the natural frequencies and their associated modes obtained from the method are found to be very accurate compared with the results by the FEM (SYSNOISE) or exact solutions. Furthermore, the natural frequencies converge rapidly and accurately to the exact values or the numerical results obtained from the finite element model using meshes sufficient to yield already converging natural frequencies, even when a small number of series functions are used in the proposed method.     

流动数值模拟中一种并行自适应有限元算法

给出了一种流动数值模拟中的基于误差估算的并行网格自适应有限元算法.首先,以初网格上获得的当地事后误差估算值为权,应用递归谱对剖分方法划分初网格,使各子域上总体误差近似相等,以解决负载平衡问题.然后以误差值为判据对各子域内网格进行独立的自适应处理.最后应用基于粘接元的区域分裂法在非匹配的网格上求解N-S方程.区域分裂情形下N-S方程有限元解的误差估算则是广义Stokes问题误差估算方法的推广.为验证方法的可靠性,给出了不可压流经典算例的数值结果.     

Nonlinear damping calculation in cylindrical gear dynamic modeling

The nonlinear dynamic problem posed by cylindrical gear systems has been extensively covered in the literature. Nonetheless, a significant proportion of the mechanisms involved in damping generation remains to be investigated and described. The main objective of this study is to contribute to this task. Overall, damping is assumed to consist of three sources: surrounding element contribution, hysteresis of the teeth, and oil squeeze damping. The first two contributions are considered to be commensurate with the supported load; for its part however, squeeze damping is formulated using expressions developed from the Reynolds equation. A lubricated impact analysis between the teeth is introduced in this study for the minimum film thickness calculation during contact losses. The dynamic transmission error (DTE) obtained from the final model showed close agreement with experimental measurements available in the literature. The nonlinear damping ratio calculated at different mesh frequencies and torque amplitudes presented average values between 5.3 percent and 8 percent, which is comparable to the constant 8 percent ratio used in published numerical simulations of an equivalent gear pair. A close analysis of the oil squeeze damping evidenced the inverse relationship between this damping effect and the applied load.     

Space–time discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for two-fluid flows

A novel numerical method for two-fluid flow computations is presented, which combines the space–time discontinuous Galerkin finite element discretization with the level set method and cut-cell based interface tracking. The space–time discontinuous Galerkin (STDG) finite element method offers high accuracy, an inherent ability to handle discontinuities and a very local stencil, making it relatively easy to combine with local hp-refinement. The front tracking is incorporated via cut-cell mesh refinement to ensure a sharp interface between the fluids. To compute the interface dynamics the level set method (LSM) is used because of its ability to deal with merging and breakup. Also, the LSM is easy to extend to higher dimensions. Small cells arising from the cut-cell refinement are merged to improve the stability and performance. The interface conditions are incorporated in the numerical flux at the interface and the STDG discretization ensures that the scheme is conservative as long as the numerical fluxes are conservative. The numerical method is applied to one and two dimensional two-fluid test problems using the Euler equations.     

Cost Optimized Non-Contacting Experimental Modal Analysis Using a Smartphone

The vibrations behavior analysis is an essential step in the mechanical design process. Several methods such as analytical modelling, numerical analysis and experimental measurements can be used for this purpose. However, the numerical or analytical models should be validated through experimental measurements, usually expensive. This paper introduces an inexpensive smartphone as an accurate, non-intrusive vibrations’ behavior measurement device. An experimental measurement procedure based on the video processing method is presented. This procedure allows the measurement of the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of a vibrating structure, simply by using a smartphone built-in camera. The experimental results are compared to those obtained using an accurate analytical model, where the natural frequencies error is less than 2.7% and the modal assurance criterion is higher than 0.89. In order to highlight the obtained results, a comparison has been done using a high quality and high frame per second (fps) camera-based measurement of material properties. Since the highest recovered natural frequency and its associated mode shape depend on the frame per second rate of the recorded video, this procedure has great potential in low frequencies problems such as for big structures like buildings and bridges. This validated technique re-introduces the personal smartphone as an accurate inexpensive non-contacting vibration measurement tool.     

Free Mesh Method: fundamental conception, algorithms and accuracy study

The finite element method (FEM) has been commonly employed in a variety of fields as a computer simulation method to solve such problems as solid, fluid, electro-magnetic phenomena and so on. However, creation of a quality mesh for the problem domain is a prerequisite when using FEM, which becomes a major part of the cost of a simulation. It is natural that the concept of meshless method has evolved. The free mesh method (FMM) is among the typical meshless methods intended for particle-like finite element analysis of problems that are difficult to handle using global mesh generation, especially on parallel processors. FMM is an efficient node-based finite element method that employs a local mesh generation technique and a node-by-node algorithm for the finite element calculations. In this paper, FMM and its variation are reviewed focusing on their fundamental conception, algorithms and accuracy.