Interaction solutions for a reduced extended $$\mathbf{(3}\varvec{+}{} \mathbf{1)}$$ ( 3 + 1 ) -dimensional Jimbo–Miwa equation

Heavy-duty industrial robots have great advantages in the manufacturing industry. Considering the heavy process load and low stiffness of the robot, an accurate and efficient dynamic model plays an important role in the behavior analysis and performance improvement in the robot. This paper presents a novel methodology for the inverse dynamic analysis of the heavy-duty industrial robot with elastic joints. In particular, high-order kinematics and dynamics are concisely deduced using Lie group to deal with elastic joints for the robot inverse dynamic analysis. Meanwhile, position errors of the end-effector due to elastic joints are evaluated through the inverse dynamic analysis when the robot is in heavy-duty applications. Compared with previous approaches, the advantage of proposed method is that new formulas for inverse dynamic analysis are shown to be more concise and computationally efficient using Lie group. Moreover, the position error evaluation method considering dynamic forces is proved to be more accurate than the traditional method when the robot is in the high-speed application. Because of the high computational efficiency and accurate evaluation results, the proposed approach is applicable to trajectory optimization and position error compensation, especially for the robot in heavy-load and high-speed applications.     

An elastic electrode model for wave propagation analysis in piezoelectric layered structures of film bulk acoustic resonators

Wave propagation in a piezoelectric layered structure of a film bulk acoustic resonator(FBAR) is studied. The accurate results of dispersion relation are calculated using the proposed elastic electrode model for both electroded and unelectroded layered plates. The differences of calculated cut-off frequencies between the current elastic electrode model and the simplified inertial electrode model(often used in the quartz resonator analysis) are illustrated in detail, which shows that an elastic electrode model is indeed needed for the accurate analysis of FBAR. These results can be used as an accurate criterion to calibrate the 2-D theoretical model for a real finite-size structure of FBAR.     

Interacting cracks and ellipsoidal inhomogeneities by the equivalent inclusion method

Based on the Eshelby's equivalent inclusion method (EIM) and Hill's theorem on discontinuities of elastic fields across the interfaces, a theory for the determination of the stress intensity factors (SIFs) of arbitrarily oriented interacting cracks under non-uniform far-field applied stress (strain) is developed. As shown in this investigation the EIM proposed by Moschovidis and Mura can be extended for treatment of such problems, but their formulations are quite cumbersome and computationally inefficient. An alternative analytical approach is proposed that is computationally more efficient, and unlike the method of Moschovidis and Mura can easily handle complex problems of interacting inhomogeneities and cracks. It is seen that as the interaction between the inhomogeneities becomes stronger, this method yields results that are closer to the solutions reported in the literature than the solutions obtained using the extended EIM of Moschovidis and Mura, which is developed herein. Problems involving combinations of interacting elliptic and penny shape cracks and inhomogeneities are excellent candidates for demonstration of the accuracy and robustness of the present theory, for which the previous EIM produces less accurate results. Due to the limitations imposed on the existing methods, every reported treatment has been tailored for a certain category of problems, and only uniform far-field loadings have been remedied. In contrast, the present theory is more general than the previously reported theories and it encompasses interacting cracks having a variety of geometries subjected to non-uniform far-field applied stress (strain); moreover, it is applicable to modes, I, II, III, and mixed mode fracture.     

The LS1 model for delamination propagation in multilayered materials at 0°/θ° interfaces: A comparison between experimental and finite elements strain energy release rates

The aim of this paper is to analyze delaminated multilayered plates under classical loads using an alternative model to the existing three-dimensional finite element methods (3D-FEM). The proposed alternative model, named LS1, is a layerwise stress model proving significantly less computationally expensive while accurate and efficient. In particular this paper uses experimental data from different simple test specimens in a finite element code, which is based on LS1, in order to calculate strain energy release rates (SERR) in different modes of delamination. The focus is on two types of delaminated interfaces 0°/0° and 0°/45°. The obtained SERR results are in very good agreement with the experimental values and, in the case of mixed-mode delamination, they are as accurate as the SERR obtained by 3D-FE models. The other interesting property of the LS1 model is the very fast calculation speed as the SERR can be analytically deduced from interfacial stresses. This relation which only depends on the stacking sequence and the position of delamination is presented.     

Full-field speckle pattern image correlation with B-Spline deformation function

A full-field speckle pattern image correlation method is presented that will determine directly the complete, two-dimensional deformation field during the image correlation process on digital images obtained using computer vision systems. In this work, a B-Spline function is used to represent the object deformation field throughout the entire image area. This is an improvement over subset-based image correlation methods by implicitly maintaining position and derivative continuity constraints among subsets up to a specified order. The control point variables within the B-Spline deformation function are optimized iteratively with the Levenberg-Marquardt method to achieve minimum disparity between the predicted and actual deformed images. Results have shown that the proposed method is computationally efficient, accurate and robust. The general framework of this method can be applied ton-dimensional image correlation systems that solve for multi-dimension vector fields.     

Finding minimum energy configurations for constrained beam buckling problems using the Viterbi algorithm

In this work, we present a novel technique to find approximate minimum energy configurations for thin elastic bodies using an instance of dynamic programming called the Viterbi algorithm. This method can be used to find approximate solutions for large deformation constrained buckling problems as well as problems where the strain energy function is non-convex. The approach does not require any gradient computations and could be considered a direct search method. The key idea is to consider a discretized version of the set of all possible configurations and use a computationally efficient search technique to find the minimum energy configuration. We illustrate the application of this method to a laterally constrained beam buckling problem where the presence of unilateral constraints together with the non-convexity of the energy function poses challenges for conventional schemes. The method can also be used as a means for generating “very good” starting points for other conventional gradient search algorithms. These uses, along with comparisons with a direct application of a gradient search and simulated annealing, are demonstrated in this work.     

Fundamental solutions in antiplane elastodynamic problem for anisotropic medium under moving oscillating source

In this paper we study the antiplane problem of concentrated point force moving with constant velocity and oscillating with constant frequency in unbounded homogeneous anisotropic elastic medium.The explicit representation of the elastodynamic Green's function is obtained by using Fourier integral transform techniques for all rates of source motion as a sum of the integrals over the finite interval. The dynamic and quasistatic components of the Green's function are extracted. The stationary phase method is applied to derive an asymptotic approximation at the far wave field. The simple formulae for Poynting energy flux vectors for moving and fixed observers are presented too.It is shown that the motion brings some differences in the far field properties, such as, for example, fast and slow waves appearance under superseismic motion and modification of the wave propagation zones and their numbers.The case of isotropic medium is considered separately. For isotropic material all main formulae are obtained in explicit forms.     

Boundary element analysis of cracked film–substrate media

This study evaluates the stress behavior of a cracked film–substrate medium by applying the multi-region boundary element method. Four problems addressed herein are the crack tip within a film, the crack tip terminating at the interface, interface debonding, and the crack penetrating into the substrate. The multi-region boundary element method is initially developed and, then, the stress intensity factors or the energy release rates are evaluated according to the different stress singularities of the four considered problems. These results indicate that the stress intensity factors or the energy release rates of the four problems rely not only on the different elastic mismatches and crack lengths, but also on the thickness ratio of the film and the substrate.     

Discrete element modelling for wheel-soil interaction and the analysis of the effect of gravity

The discrete element method (DEM) is widely seen as one of the more accurate, albeit more computationally demanding approaches for terramechanics modelling. Part of its appeal is its explicit consideration of gravity in the formulation, making it easily applicable to the study of soil in reduced gravity environments. The parallel particles (P²) approach to terramechanics modelling is an alternate approach to traditional DEM that is computationally more efficient at the cost of some assumptions. Thus far, this method has mostly been applied to soil excavation maneuvers. The goal of this work is to implement and validate the P² approach on a single wheel driving over soil in order to evaluate the applicability of the method to the study of wheel-soil interaction. In particular, the work studies how well the method captures the effect of gravity on wheel-soil behaviour. This was done by building a model and first tuning numerical simulation parameters to determine the critical simulation frequency required for stable simulation behaviour and then tuning the physical simulation parameters to obtain physically accurate results. The former were tuned via the convergence of particle settling energy plots for various frequencies. The latter were tuned via comparison to drawbar pull and wheel sinkage data collected from experiments carried out on a single wheel testbed with a martian soil simulant in a reduced gravity environment. Sensitivity of the simulation to model parameters was also analyzed. Simulations produced promising data when compared to experiments as far as predicting experimentally observable trends in drawbar pull and sinkage, but also showed limitations in predicting the exact numerical values of the measured forces.     

Dislocation equilibrium conditions revisited

If there is an equilibrium arrangement of a given collection of dislocations, each having a fixed size and shape, in an externally loaded or unloaded elastic body, the corresponding potential energy will be stationary with respect to infinitesimal perturbations of the dislocation positions. This leads to the dislocation equilibrium conditions: the Peach–Koehler forces along the dislocation line of each dislocation due to externally applied stress and the interaction of the dislocation with other dislocations and its own image field is a set of self-equilibrated forces. The earlier proof of this result presented in the literature was based on an incomplete expression for the elastic strain energy. This is modified here by using the elastic strain energy expression that accounts for all dislocation core energy.     

Anisotropic elastic and elastic–plastic bending solutions for edge constrained beams

In beam-like fracture tests the rotation at the crack tip is a significant factor controlling the energy release rate. The local deformations of a beam ahead of the crack tip where the lower edge constrained by a stiffness is described for an anisotropic elastic material. This is a useful model for composite delamination tests and gives the crack length correction factor and root rotation which are used in determining energy release rate. The solution is calibrated using FE results and found to be accurate to within 2%.The solution is extended by analogy to plasticity where the yielding of the constrained edge is modelled. The assumption that the deformations are controlled by the same parameters as the elastic solution is confirmed numerically. It is shown that in most practical cases the bottom edge remains elastic. This constraint is important in calculating the root rotation.     

Transient elastic wave propagation in an infinite Timoshenko beam on viscoelastic foundation

This paper presents an effective numerical method for solving elastic wave propagation problems in an infinite Timoshenko beam on viscoelastic foundation in time domain. In order to use the finite element method to model the local complicated material properties of the infinite beam as well as foundation, two artificial boundaries are needed in the infinite system so as to truncate the infinite beam into a finite beam. This treatment requires an appropriate boundary condition derived and applied on the corresponding truncated boundaries. For this purpose, the time-dependent equilibrium equation of motion for beam is changed into a linear ordinary differential equation by using the operator splitting and the residual radiation methods. Simultaneously, an artificial parameter is employed in the derivation. As a result, the high-order accurate artificial boundary condition, which is local in time, is obtained by solving the ordinary differential equation. The numerical examples given in this paper demonstrate that the proposed method is of high accuracy in dealing with elastic wave propagation problems in an infinite foundation beam.     

Determinations of both length scale and surface elastic parameters for fcc metals

In the present research, a systematical study of trans-scale mechanics theory is performed. The surface/interface energy density varying with material deformation is considered, and the general surface/interface elastic constitutive equations are derived. New methods to determine the material length scale parameter and the surface elastic parameters based on a simple quasi-continuum method, i.e. the Cauchy–Born rule, are developed and applied to typical fcc metals. In the present research, the material length parameters will be determined through an equivalent condition of the strain energy density calculated by adopting the strain gradient theory and by adopting the Cauchy–Born rule, respectively. Based on the surface constitutive equations obtained in the present research, the surface elastic parameters are calculated by using the Gibbs definition of surface energy density and the Cauchy–Born rule method.     

A model for tracking inertial particles in a lattice Boltzmann turbulent flow simulation

A computationally inexpensive model for tracking inertial particles through a turbulent flow is presented and applied to the turbulent flow through a square duct having a friction Reynolds number of Re_τ = 300. Prior to introducing particles into the model, the flow is simulated using a lattice Boltzmann computation, which is allowed to evolve until a steady state turbulent flow is achieved. A snapshot of the flow is then stored, and the trajectories of particles are computed through the flow domain under the influence of this static probability field. Although the flow is not computationally evolving during the particle tracking simulation, the local velocity is obtained stochastically from the local probability function, thus allowing the dynamics of the turbulent flow to be resolved from the point of view of the suspended particles. Particle inertia is modeled by using a relaxation parameter based on the particle Stokes number that allows for a particle velocity history to be incorporated during each time step. Wall deposition rates and deposition patterns are obtained and exhibit a high level of agreement with previously obtained DNS computational results and experimental results for a wide range of particle inertia. These results suggest that accurate particle tracking through complex turbulent flows may be feasible given a suitable probability field, such as one obtained from a lattice Boltzmann simulation. This in turn presents a new paradigm for the rapid acquisition of particle transport statistics without the need for concurrent computations of fluid flow evolution.     

Enabling reduced-order data-driven nonlinear identification and modeling through naïve elastic net regularization

This work discusses an improved method of reduced-order modeling for existing data-driven nonlinear identification techniques through the incorporation of naïve elastic net regularization. The data-driven methods considered for this study operate using basis functions to represent the observed nonlinearity. Elastic net regularization is used to minimize the number of non-zero coefficients, thus modifying the basis functions and providing a compact representation. The ability of the naïve elastic net to provide reduced-order nonlinear models that can both accurately fit various data sets and computationally simulate new responses is illustrated through studies considering both synthetic data and experimental data. In both cases, the results obtained with the naïve elastic net are shown to match or outperform those from other traditional methods.     

Nonlinear elasticity modeling of biogels

A second-order nonlinear elastic model is developed for biogels, whereby the elastic constants are estimated from the free energy densities for polymer networks and polymer-water mixtures. For typical values of the constants, important physical insights are revealed: a biogel stiffens under tension, contracts longitudinally under torsion (inverse Poynting effect), and experiences a negative normal stress under simple shear. This approach of extracting nonlinear elastic constants works for any constitutive law, and has the advantage of exploring physical phenomena without recourse to computationally intensive simulations.     

Linear water wave propagation through multiple floating elastic plates of variable properties

We investigate the problem of linear water wave propagation under a set of elastic plates of variable properties. The problem is two-dimensional, but we allow the waves to be incident from an angle. Since the properties of the elastic plates can be set arbitrarily, the solution method can also be applied to model regions of open water as well as elastic plates. We assume that the boundary conditions at the plate edges are the free boundary conditions, although the method could be extended straightforwardly to cover other possible boundary conditions. The solution method is based on an eigenfunction expansion under each elastic plate and on matching these expansions at each plate boundary. We choose the number of matching conditions so that we have fewer equations than unknowns. The extra equations are found by applying the free-edge boundary conditions. We show that our results agree with previous work and that they satisfy the energy balance condition. We also compare our results with a series of experiments using floating elastic plates, which were performed in a two-dimensional wave tank.     

Iterative technique for circular thin plates on Gibson elastic foundation using modified Vlasov model

In this paper, to investigate the influence of soil inhomogeneity on the bending of circular thin plates on elastic foundations, the static problem of circular thin plates on Gibson elastic foundation is solved using an iterative method based on the modified Vlasov model. On the basis of the principle of minimum potential energy, the governing differential equations and boundary conditions for circular thin plates on modified Vlasov foundation considering the characteristics of Gibson soil are derived. The equations for the attenuation parameter in bending problem are also obtained, and the issue of unknown parameters being difficult to determine is solved using the iterative method. Numerical examples are analyzed and the results are in good agreement with those form other literatures. It proves that the method is practical and accurate. The inhomogeneity of modified Vlasov foundations has some influence on the deformation and internal force behavior of circular thin plates. The effects of various parameters on the bending of circular plates and characteristic parameters of the foundation are discussed. The modified model further enriches and develops the elastic foundations. Relevant conclusions that are meaningful to engineering practice are drawn.     

Two collinear Griffith cracks subjected to uniform tension in infinitely long strip

The problem of determining the stress field in an elastic strip of finite width when the uniform tension is applied to the faces of two collinear symmetrical cracks situated within it is considered. By using the Fourier transform, the problem can be solved with a set of triple integral equations. These equations are solved using Schmidts method. This method is suitable for solving the strips problem of arbitrary width.     

Stability and vibration of shear deformable plates––first order and higher order analyses

This work presents the highly accurate numerical calculation of the natural frequencies and buckling loads for thick elastic rectangular plates with various combinations of boundary conditions. The Reissener–Mindlin first order shear deformation plate theory and the higher order shear deformation plate theory of Reddy have been applied to the plate’s analysis. The governing equations and the boundary conditions are derived using the dynamic version of the principle of minimum of the total energy. The solution is obtained by the extended Kantorovich method. This approach is combined with the exact element method for the vibration and stability analysis of compressed members, which provides for the derivation of the exact dynamic stiffness matrix including the effect of in-plane and inertia forces. The large number of numerical examples demonstrates the applicability and versatility of the present method. The results obtained by both shear deformation theories are compared with those obtained by the classical thin plate’s theory and with published results. Many new results are given too.