A modified finite element method for determining equilibrium capillary surfaces of liquids with specified volumes

This paper describes a modified finite element method (MFEM) for determining the static equilibrium shape of the capillary surface of a liquid with a prescribed volume constrained by rigid boundaries with arbitrary shapes. It is assumed that the liquid is in static equilibrium under the influence of surface tension, adhesion, and gravity forces. This problem can be solved by employing the conventional FEM; however, a major difficulty arises due to the presence of the volume (integral) constraint and usually requires the use of the Lagrange multiplier method, the sequential unconstrained minimization technique, or the augmented Lagrange multiplier method. With the MFEM, the space variables defining the equilibrium surfaces (or curves) are expanded in terms of parametric interpolation functions, which are designed such that the boundary conditions and the integral constraint equation are automatically satisfied during each iteration of a direct numerical search process. Hence, there is no need to include Lagrange multipliers and/or penalty factors and the problem can be treated more simply as one involving unconstrained optimization. This investigation indicates that the MFEM is more efficient and reliable than the other methods. Results are presented for several case study problems involving liquid solder drops. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some problems of optimizing shell shape and thickness distribution on the basis of a genetic algorithm

We consider problems related to designing axisymmetric shells of minimal weight (mass) and the development of efficient nonlocal optimization methods. The optimization problems under study consist in simultaneous search for the optimal geometry and the shell thickness optimal distribution from the minimal weight condition under strength constraints and additional geometric constraints imposed on the thickness function, the transverse cross-section radii distribution, and the volume enclosed by the shell. Using the method of penalty functions, we reduce the above optimal design problem to a nonconvex minimization problem for the extended Lagrange functional. To find the global optimum, we apply an efficient genetic algorithm. We present the results of numerical solution of the optimal design problem for dome-like shells of revolution under the action of gravity forces. We present some data characterizing the convergence of the method developed here.     

Reduced augmented Lagrangian bi-conjugate gradient method for impact-contact problems

To avoid the numerical oscillation of the penalty method and non-compatibility with explicit operators of conventional Lagrange multiplier methods used in transient contact problems to enforce surface contact conditions, a new approach to enforcing surface contact constraints for the transient nonlinear finite element problems, referred to as “the reduced augmented Lagrangian bi-conjugate gradient method (ALCG)”, is developed in this paper. Based on the nonlinear constrained optimization theory and is compatible with the explicit time integration scheme, this approach can also be used in implicit scheme naturally. The new surface contact constraint method presented has significant advantages over the widely adopted penalty function methods and the conventional Lagrangian multiplier methods. The surface contact constraints are satisfied more accurately for each step by the algorithm, so the oscillation of numerical solution for the explicit scheme is depressed. Through the development of new iteration strategy for solving nonlinear equations, ALCG method improves the computational efficiency greatly. Project supported by State Education Commission Doctoral Foundation and Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province.     

基于双向渐进结构优化法的“破损-安全”结构轻量化设计

“破损-安全”(fail-safe)设计通过冗余载荷路径设计提升结构的损伤容限(残余承载能力),是保障飞行器结构安全性的重要设计环节；然而，冗余结构形式不可避免地导致重量增加、效率降低，严重制约飞行器结构性能的进一步提升.论文基于双向渐进结构优化法(Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization),提出了一种“破损-安全”结构轻量化设计方法.具体地，设计方法采用“0/1”离散拓扑变量，以结构重量(材料用量)最小化作为优化目标，同时对局部破损结构的承载形变进行约束(低于安全阈值).针对渐进结构优化法难处理多设计约束的瓶颈，采用p范数法对局部破损结构的最大承载形变进行凝聚，并通过拉格朗日乘子将其耦合至优化目标函数，实现结构轻量化与“破损-安全”的同步设计.进一步地，并依据最大残余承载形变对局部区域破损之于“破损-安全”的影响程度进行判定，通过免除低影响局部破损区域的残余承载形变分析与约束，大幅度地提升了优化设计效率.通过系列基准测试算例，验证了论文“破损-安全”设计方法的有效性及高效性.     

Method of high-order lagrange multiplier and generalized variational principles of elasticity with more general forms of functionals

It is known[1]that the minimum principles of potential energy andcomplementary energy are the conditional variation principles underrespective conditions of constraints.By means of the method of La-grange multipliers,we are able to reduce the functionals of condi-tional variation principles to new functionals of non-conditionalvariation principles.This method can be described as follows:Mul-tiply undetermined Lagrange multipliers by various constraints,andadd these products to the original functionals.Considering these un-determined Lagrange multipliers and the original variables in thesenew functionals as independent variables of variation,we can see thatthe stationary conditions of these functionals give these undeter-mined Lagrange multipliers in terms of original variables.The sub-stitutions of these results for Lagrange multipliers into the abovefunctionals lead to the functionals of these non-conditional varia-tion principles.However,in certain cases,some of the undetermined Lagrangemultipliers ma     

弹性理论中的临界变分及消除方法

临界变分现象是拉氏乘子法的固有特性，钱伟长应用高阶拉氏乘子消除了临界变分现象。本文将提出一种新的方法－凑合反推法，这种方法摒充了拉氏乘子法，把拉氏乘子所在的项目一个待定函数Ｆ代替。这样构成的泛函，作者称之为试泛函。而待定函数Ｆ的识别类似于拉氏乘子的识别。通过该法可以方便地构造出各种多变量广义变分原理，并且可以消除临界变分现象。     

Involutory transformations and variational principles with multi-varoables in thin plate bending problems

In this paper, the generalizd variational principles of plate bending, froblems are established from their minimum potential energy principle and minimum complementary energy principle through the elimination of their constraints by means of the method of Lagrange multipliers. The involutory transformations are also introduced in order to reduce the order of differentiations for the variables in the variation. Funhermore, these involutory transformations become infacl the additional constraints in the varialion. and additional Lagrange multipliers may be used in order to remove these additional constraints. Thus, various multi-variable variational principles are obtained for the plate bending problems. However, it is observed that. nol all the constrainls ofva’iaticn can be removed simply by the ordinary method of linear Lagrange multipliers. In such cases, the method of high-order Lagrange multipliers are usedto remove iliose constrainls left over by ordinary linear multiplier method. And consequently. some funct ionals of more general forms are oblained for the generaleed variational principles of plate bending problems.     

EXACT AUGMENTED LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION FOR NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS WITH INEQUALITY CONSTRAINTS

An exact augmented Lagrangian function for the nonlinear nonconvex programming problems with inequality constraints was discussed. Under suitable hypotheses, the relationship was established between the local unconstrained minimizers of the augmented Lagrangian function on the space of problem variables and the local minimizers of the original constrained problem. Furthermore, under some assumptions, the relationship was also established between the global solutions of the augmented Lagrangian function on some compact subset of the space of problem variables and the global solutions of the constrained problem. Therefore, from the theoretical point of view, a solution of the inequality constrained problem and the corresponding values of the Lagrange multipliers can be found by the well-known method of multipliers which resort to the unconstrained minimization of the augmented Lagrangian function presented.     

位移约束集成化处理的连续体结构拓扑优化

为解决多工况下多位移约束的连续体结构拓扑优化问题,引入了K-S函数对位移约束进行集成化处理.在建立优化模型时,基于莫尔定理按ICM方法导出约束点位移与设计变量之间的近似显函数关系,然后采用Lagrange乘子法进行求解.给出三个算例对该方法进行验证,并与ESO法、BESO法、MD法以及均匀化方法的结果进行比较.结果表明:该方法计算效率较高,并且能够计算出更合理的结构拓扑.     

Exactness of penalization for exact minimax penalty function method in nonconvex programming

The exact minimax penalty function method is used to solve a noncon-vex differentiable optimization problem with both inequality and equality constraints. The conditions for exactness of the penalization for the exact minimax penalty function method are established by assuming that the functions constituting the considered con-strained optimization problem are invex with respect to the same function η (with the exception of those equality constraints for which the associated Lagrange multipliers are negative-these functions should be assumed to be incave with respect to η). Thus, a threshold of the penalty parameter is given such that, for all penalty parameters exceeding this threshold, equivalence holds between the set of optimal solutions in the considered constrained optimization problem and the set of minimizer in its associated penalized problem with an exact minimax penalty function. It is shown that coercivity is not suf-ficient to prove the results.     

多位移等式约束拓扑优化及在光电精密结构设计中的应用

为了满足光电精密跟踪设备中光学系统对支撑结构变形位移相等的设计要求,基于变密度法,以刚度极大为目标,同时以体积约束和位移等式约束作为约束条件,构建结构拓扑优化模型。位移等式约束通过增广拉格朗日乘子法引入原目标函数,在拉格朗日乘子的求解中,采用考虑具有真实物理意义的近似替代法而非传统的纯数学迭代逼近方法。在利用伴随方法得到增广目标函数敏度基础上,采用MMA优化算法,在满足体积约束的同时进行迭代优化得到新结构。算例验证结果表明,本文方法能够有效解决具有多个位移等式约束的刚度极大结构轻量化设计问题。     

基于相场描述的拉压不对称强度结构拓扑优化

运用了基于相场描述的拓扑优化方法,来寻找在拉伸和压缩中表现出不对称强度行为的连续体结构的最优布局。依据Drucker-Prager屈服准则和幂率插值方案,优化问题可以描述为在局部应力约束下的最小化结构的体积。用qp放松法来解决应力约束的奇异性,并采用基于P-norm函数的聚合方法对应力约束进行凝聚,该方法实现了约束个数的降低,同时引入了稳定转化法来处理大量的局部应力约束和高度非线性的应力行为,以修正应力,提高优化收敛的稳定性。在优化问题求解时,使用拉格朗日乘子法对目标函数和应力约束进行处理。利用伴随变量法进行灵敏度分析,并通过求解Allen-Cahn方程更新相场函数设计变量。数值算例证明了该优化模型和相应数值技术的有效性,相关算例还揭示了考虑拉压不同强度和考虑同拉压强度约束时得到的结构优化拓扑构型具有显著的差异。     

以优化方法求解布料无摩擦接触变形问题

利用作者所提出的布料质点模型,用罚函数法解除布料和其它物体之间的接触约束,把接触约束条件下的极值问题转化为无约束极值问题,用F-R共轭梯度法求解,并用三次插值方法进行一维搜索．计算了有缝摺和裁剪开口的布料与球形物体的接触变形问题,得到的结果符合人们的日常实际观察．     

Thermal solution of cylindrical composite systems using meshless method

This paper presents the thermal solution of cylindrical composite systems using meshless element free Galerkin (EFG) method. The EFG method utilizes the moving least square approximants, which are constructed by using a weight function, a basis function and a set of non-constant coefficients to approximate the unknown function of temperature. Dirichlet (essential) boundary conditions have been enforced using Lagrange multiplier and penalty methods. Existing rational weight function has been modified and used in the present analysis. MATLAB codes have been developed to obtain the numerical solution. The EFG results have been obtained using cubicspline, quarticspline, Gaussian, quadratic, hyperbolic, exponential, rational and cosine weight functions for a model problem. The results obtained using different EFG weight functions are also compared with those obtained by finite element method. The effect of scaling and penalty parameters has also been studied in detail.     

Optimization of multibody systems based on the generalized-α projection method for DAEs

Efficient optimization strategy of multibody systems is developed in this paper. Augmented Lagrange method is used to transform constrained optimal problem into unconstrained form firstly. Then methods based on second order sensitivity are used to solve the unconstrained problem, where the sensitivity is solved by hybrid method. Generalized-α method and generalized-α projection method for the differential-algebraic equation, which shows more efficient properties with the lager time step, are presented to get state variables and adjoint variables during the optimization procedure. Numerical results validate the accuracy and efficiency of the methods is presented.     

Optimal elastic design of beams

According to the principle of minimum complementary energy a mathematical statement of optimal strength design problem for elastic beams is formulated in this research, which is an extremum problem of functionals with equality and inequality constraints. Further the application of the Lagrangian multiplier method yields the necessary conditions for extrema. A set of relations that must be satisfied for the optimal solution follows afterwards. This set of relations can be used to verify the optimality of a uniform strength design or any feasible elastic design. An iterative numerical method to find the optimal solution when the uniform strength design is not optimal is also presented in this paper.Project supported by the Science and Technics Fund of the Chinese National Educational Committee.     

Note on the critical variational state in elasticity theory

Recently Prof. Chien Wei-zang pointed out that in certain cases, by means of ordinary Lagrange multiplier method, some of undetermined Lagrange multipliers may turn out to be zero during variation. This is a critical state of variation. In this critical state, the corresponding variational constraint can not be eliminated by means of simple Lagrange multiplier method. This is indeed the case when one tries to eliminate the constraint condition of strain-stress relation in variational principle of minimum complementary energy by the method of Lagrange multiplier.By means of Lagrange multiplier method, one can only derive, from minimum complementary energy principle, the Hellinger-Reissner Principle, in which only two type of in-dependent variables, stresses and displacements, exist in the new functional. Hence Prof. Chien introduced the high-order Lagrang multiplier method bu adding the quadratic terms.to original functions. The purpose of this paper is to show that by adding to original functionals one     

Response of frictional contact problems in thermo-rheologically complex structures

This paper presents a comprehensive computational model for predicting the nonlinear response of frictional viscoelastic contact systems under thermo-mechanical loading and experience geometrical nonlinearity. The nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model is expressed by an integral form of a creep function, whose elastic and time-dependent properties change with stresses and temperatures. The thermo-viscoelastic behavior of the contacting bodies is assumed to follow a class of thermo-rheologically complex materials. An incremental-recursive formula for solving the nonlinear viscoelastic integral equation is derived. Such formula necessitates data storage only from the previous time step. The contact problem as a variational inequality constrained model is handled using the Lagrange multiplier method for exact satisfaction of the inequality contact constraints. A local nonlinear friction law is adopted to model friction at the contact interface. The material and geometrical nonlinearities are modeled in the framework of the total Lagrangian formulation. The developed model is verified using available benchmarks. The effectiveness and accuracy of the developed computational model is validated by solving two thermo-mechanical contact problems with different natures. Moreover, obtained results show that the mechanical properties and the class of thermo-rheological behavior of the contacting bodies as well as the coefficient of friction have significant effects on the contact response of nonlinear thermo-viscoelastic materials.     

A discontinuous Galerkin method with plane waves and Lagrange multipliers for the solution of short wave exterior Helmholtz problems on unstructured meshes

Recently, a discontinuous Galerkin method with plane wave basis functions and Lagrange multiplier degrees of freedom was proposed for the efficient solution of the Helmholtz equation in the mid-frequency regime. This method was fully developed however only for regular meshes, and demonstrated only for interior Helmholtz problems. In this paper, we extend it to irregular meshes and exterior Helmholtz problems in order to expand its scope to practical acoustic scattering problems. We report preliminary results for two-dimensional short wave problems that highlight the superior performance of this discontinuous Galerkin method over the standard finite element method.     

NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS OF OPTIMAL CONTROL FOR THERMALLY CONVECTIVE FLOWS

We study the numerical solution of optimal control problems associated with two-dimensional viscous incompressible thermally convective flows. Although the techniques apply to more general settings, the presentation is confined to the objectives of minimizing the vorticity in the steady state case and tracking the velocity field in the non-stationary case with boundary temperature controls. In the steady state case we develop a systematic way to use the Lagrange multiplier rules to derive an optimality system of equations from which an optimal solution can be computed; finite element methods are used to find approximate solutions for the optimality system of equations. In the time-dependent case a piecewise-in-time optimal control approach is proposed and the fully discrete approximation algorithm for solving the piecewise optimal control problem is defined. Numerical results are presented for both the steady state and time-dependent optimal control problems. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.