Basic features of the time finite element approach for dynamics

Very general weak forms may be developed for dynamic systems, the most general being analogous to a Hu-Washizu three-field formulation, thus paralleling well-established weak methods of solid mechanics. In this work two different formulations are developed: a pure displacement formulation and a two-field mixed formulation. With the objective of developing a thorough understanding of the peculiar features of finite elements in time, the relevant methodologies associated with this approach for dynamics are extensively discussed. After having laid the theoretical bases, the finite element approximation and the linearization of the resulting forms are developed, together with a method for the treatment of holonomic and nonholonomic constraints, thus widening the horizons of applicability over the vast world of multibody system dynamics. With the purpose of enlightening on the peculiar numerical behavior of the different approaches, simple but meaningful examples are illustrated. To this aim, significant parallels with elastostatics are emphasized. Paper presented at the ‘International Technical Specialists' Meeting on Rotorcraft Basic Research’, March 25–27, 1991, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.     

A mixed finite element/finite volume approach for solving biodegradation transport in groundwater

A numerical model for the simulation of flow and transport of organic compounds undergoing bacterial oxygen- and nitrate-based respiration is presented. General assumptions regarding microbial population, bacteria metabolism and effects of oxygen, nitrogen and nutrient concentration on organic substrate rate of consumption are briefly described. The numerical solution techniques for solving both the flow and the transport are presented. The saturated flow equation is discretized using a high-order mixed finite element scheme, which provides a highly accurate estimation of the velocity field. The transport equation for a sorbing porous medium is approximated using a finite volume scheme enclosing an upwind TVD shock-capturing technique for capturing concentration-unsteady steep fronts. The performance and capabilities of the present approach in a bio-remediation context are assessed by considering a set of test problems. The reliability of the numerical results concerning solution accuracy and the computational efficiency in terms of cost and memory requirements are also estimated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AN EXACT ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE BENDING OF NONHOMOGENEOUS REISSNER’S PLATE

In this paper,based on the step reduction method and exact analytic method,a new method,the exact element method for constructing finite element,is presented.Since the new method doesn’t need variational principle,it can be applied to solve non-positive and positive definite partial differential equations with arbitrary variable coefficients.By this method,a triangle noncompatible element with15 degrees of freedom is derived to solve the bending of nonhomogenous Reissner’s plate.Because the displacement parameters at the nodal point only contain deflection and rotation angle.it is convenient to deal with arbitrary boundary conditions.In this paper,the convergence of displacement and stress resultants is proved.The element obtained by the present method can be used for thin and thick plates as well,Four numerical examples are given at the end of this paper,which indicates that we can obtain satisfactory results and have higher numerical precision.     

开口薄壁杆件结构稳定分析的精确单元和两步求解算法

从控制微分方程的通解出发,构造受偏心压力作用开口薄壁杆件的精确形函数,建立用于开口薄壁杆件结构稳定性分析的精确有限元,得到了单元刚度矩阵和几何刚度矩阵的显式表达,提出了计算给定区间内各阶临界荷载以及相应失稳模态的两步计算方法。计算结果表明,与常规单元相比,采用精确单元无需进行网格细分就可以获得精确的数值结果,结合本文的两步求解算法,可以准确获得给定区间内全部临界荷载和失稳模态。     

A stabilized finite element method for the Saint‐Venant equations with application to irrigation

When the two‐dimensional shallow water equations are applied to solve practical irrigation problems, additional numerical difficulties arise. Large friction coefficients, dry bed conditions and singular infiltration terms engender new challenges which are addressed here to build a finite element method that is robust enough for this type of application. The proposed method is a stabilized formulation based on the symmetric quasi‐linear form and the set of entropy variables. The robustness of the method is increased with a discontinuity capturing operator. A predictor multi‐corrector algorithm is employed to solve the generalized trapezoidal rule. One of the novel features of the present technique is that an ‘explicit’ method has been developed with characteristics of implicit methods, so that the solution can be advanced at a convective CFL number of 1, regardless of the source terms. This leads to an economic procedure. Finally, an entropy production (in) equality is developed, which ensures the correct physical behaviour of the model and helps to determine the correct sign of the infiltration term. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiphase flow in heterogeneous porous media: A classical finite element method versus an implicit pressure–explicit saturation‐based mixed finite element–finite volume approach

Various discretization methods exist for the numerical simulation of multiphase flow in porous media. In this paper, two methods are introduced and analyzed—a full‐upwind Galerkin method which belongs to the classical finite element methods, and a mixed‐hybrid finite element method based on an implicit pressure–explicit saturation (IMPES) approach. Both methods are derived from the governing equations of two‐phase flow. Their discretization concepts are compared in detail. Their efficiency is discussed using several examples. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

汽车覆盖件工具曲面有限元网格自适应转换方法

提出一种适用于汽车覆盖件曲面有限元网格转化和在单元水平上提高模拟精度的方法,将平面下通过合并三角形单元成四边形单元的有限元网格转换方法的应用范围扩展到曲面,并且降低了对初始网格形状的要求。算法的关键在于增加了对曲面相邻单元不同夹角情况下的处理和优化规则,以使其能够更好地拟合原始CAD曲面。     

A mixed finite element method for the generalized Stokes problem

We present and analyse a new mixed finite element method for the generalized Stokes problem. The approach, which is a natural extension of a previous procedure applied to quasi‐Newtonian Stokes flows, is based on the introduction of the flux and the tensor gradient of the velocity as further unknowns. This yields a two‐fold saddle point operator equation as the resulting variational formulation. Then, applying a slight generalization of the well known Babu?ka–Brezzi theory, we prove that the continuous and discrete formulations are well posed, and derive the associated a priori error analysis. In particular, the finite element subspaces providing stability coincide with those employed for the usual Stokes flows except for one of them that needs to be suitably enriched. We also develop an a posteriori error estimate (based on local problems) and propose the associated adaptive algorithm to compute the finite element solutions. Several numerical results illustrate the performance of the method and its capability to localize boundary layers, inner layers, and singularities. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite element method for the one‐dimensional extended Boussinesq equations

A new finite element method for Nwogu's (O. Nwogu, ASCE J. Waterw., Port, Coast., Ocean Eng., 119 , 618–638 (1993)) one‐dimensional extended Boussinesq equations is presented using a linear element spatial discretisation method coupled with a sophisticated adaptive time integration package. The accuracy of the scheme is compared to that of an existing finite difference method (G. Wei and J.T. Kirby, ASCE J. Waterw., Port, Coast., Ocean Eng., 121 , 251–261 (1995)) by considering the truncation error at a node. Numerical tests with solitary and regular waves propagating in variable depth environments are compared with theoretical and experimental data. The accuracy of the results confirms the analytical prediction and shows that the new approach competes well with existing finite difference methods. The finite element formulation is shown to enable the method to be extended to irregular meshes in one dimension and has the potential to allow for extension to the important practical case of unstructured triangular meshes in two dimensions. This latter case is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite element method for the two‐dimensional extended Boussinesq equations

A new numerical method for Nwogu's (ASCE Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering 1993; 119 :618)two‐dimensional extended Boussinesq equations is presented using a linear triangular finite element spatial discretization coupled with a sophisticated adaptive time integration package. The authors have previously presented a finite element method for the one‐dimensional form of these equations (M. Walkley and M. Berzins (International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids 1999; 29 (2):143)) and this paper describes the extension of these ideas to the two‐dimensional equations and the application of the method to complex geometries using unstructured triangular grids. Computational results are presented for two standard test problems and a realistic harbour model. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic simulation of free surfaces in capillaries with the finite element method

The mathematical formulation of the dynamics of free liquid surfaces including the effects of surface tension is governed by a non-linear system of elliptic differential equations. The major difficulty of getting unique closed solutions only in trivial cases is overcome by numerical methods. This paper considers transient simulations of liquid–gas menisci in vertical capillary tubes and gaps in the presence of gravity. Therefore the CFD code FIDAP 7.52 based on the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) is used. Calculations using the free surface model are presented for a variety of contact angles and cross-sections with experimental and theoretical verification. The liquid column oscillations are compared for numerical accuracy with a mechanical mathematical model, and the sensitivity with respect to the node density is investigated. The efficiency of the numerical treatment of geometric non-trivial problems is demonstrated by a prismatic capillary. Present restrictions limiting efficient transient simulations with irregularly shaped calculational domains are stated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A domain decomposition approach to finite volume solutions of the Euler equations on unstructured triangular meshes

We report on our recent efforts on the formulation and the evaluation of a domain decomposition algorithm for the parallel solution of two‐dimensional compressible inviscid flows. The starting point is a flow solver for the Euler equations, which is based on a mixed finite element/finite volume formulation on unstructured triangular meshes. Time integration of the resulting semi‐discrete equations is obtained using a linearized backward Euler implicit scheme. As a result, each pseudo‐time step requires the solution of a sparse linear system for the flow variables. In this study, a non‐overlapping domain decomposition algorithm is used for advancing the solution at each implicit time step. First, we formulate an additive Schwarz algorithm using appropriate matching conditions at the subdomain interfaces. In accordance with the hyperbolic nature of the Euler equations, these transmission conditions are Dirichlet conditions for the characteristic variables corresponding to incoming waves. Then, we introduce interface operators that allow us to express the domain decomposition algorithm as a Richardson‐type iteration on the interface unknowns. Algebraically speaking, the Schwarz algorithm is equivalent to a Jacobi iteration applied to a linear system whose matrix has a block structure. A substructuring technique can be applied to this matrix in order to obtain a fully implicit scheme in terms of interface unknowns. In our approach, the interface unknowns are numerical (normal) fluxes. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite element method for free surface flows of incompressible fluids in three dimensions. Part I. Boundary fitted mesh motion

Computational fluid mechanics techniques for examining free surface problems in two‐dimensional form are now well established. Extending these methods to three dimensions requires a reconsideration of some of the difficult issues from two‐dimensional problems as well as developing new formulations to handle added geometric complexity. This paper presents a new finite element formulation for handling three‐dimensional free surface problems with a boundary‐fitted mesh and full Newton iteration, which solves for velocity, pressure, and mesh variables simultaneously. A boundary‐fitted, pseudo‐solid approach is used for moving the mesh, which treats the interior of the mesh as a fictitious elastic solid that deforms in response to boundary motion. To minimize mesh distortion near free boundary under large deformations, the mesh motion equations are rotated into normal and tangential components prior to applying boundary conditions. The Navier–Stokes equations are discretized using a Galerkin–least square/pressure stabilization formulation, which provides good convergence properties with iterative solvers. The result is a method that can track large deformations and rotations of free surface boundaries in three dimensions. The method is applied to two sample problems: solid body rotation of a fluid and extrusion from a nozzle with a rectangular cross‐section. The extrusion example exhibits a variety of free surface shapes that arise from changing processing conditions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the stability of bubble functions and a stabilized mixed finite element formulation for the Stokes problem

In this paper we investigate the relationship between stabilized and enriched finite element formulations for the Stokes problem. We also present a new stabilized mixed formulation for which the stability parameter is derived purely by the method of weighted residuals. This new formulation allows equal‐order interpolation for the velocity and pressure fields. Finally, we show by counterexample that a direct equivalence between subgrid‐based stabilized finite element methods and Galerkin methods enriched by bubble functions cannot be constructed for quadrilateral and hexahedral elements using standard bubble functions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

用于多种夹层板等效的有限元分析法

针对夹层板力学性能解析法难于计算复杂结构的夹层板且通用性差的问题,本文采用有限元分析法研究了夹层板性能的等效方法。对夹层板的代表体单元模型施加位移约束,模拟弯曲变形时线性独立的应变分量和弯曲内力;根据夹层板内力与应变的本构关系,求出刚度矩阵;最后由刚度矩阵得出宏观等效弹性常数,从而把夹层板等效成连续材料的单层板单元。将该方法与解析法计算结果进行比较得到的夹层板单元四个主要弹性常数误差在0.2%以内,验证了该方法的有效性;另外采用该方法等效三种典型结构夹层板,比较实际模型和等效模型的弯曲响应,得到的误差均在1.4%以内,表明该方法在不考虑复杂多变的夹芯结构时具有通用性。     

A nonconforming finite element method for the Stokes equations using the Crouzeix‐Raviart element for the velocity and the standard linear element for the pressure

We present a finite element method for Stokes equations using the Crouzeix‐Raviart element for the velocity and the continuous linear element for the pressure. We show that the inf‐sup condition is satisfied for this pair. Two numerical experiments are presented to support the theoretical results. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Eulerian approach to the finite element modelling of neo-Hookean rubber material

A Eulerian approach is applied to the finite element modelling of neo-Hookean rubber material. Two major problems are encountered. The first problem is the construction of an algorithm to calculate stresses in the rubber material from velocities instead of displacements. This problem is solved with an algorithm based on the definition of the velocity gradient. The second problem is the convection of stresses through the finite element mesh. This problem is solved by adapting the so-called Taylor-Galerkin technique. Solutions for both problems are implemented in a finite element program and their validity is shown by test problems. Results of these implementations are compared with results obtained by a standard Lagrangian approach finite element package and good agreement has been found.     

Computation of the stabilization parameter for the finite element solution of advective–diffusive problems

In a previous paper a general procedure for deriving stabilized finite element schemes for advective type problems based on invoking higher order balance laws over finite size domains was presented. This provides an expression for the element stabilization parameter in terms of the solution residual and its first derivatives in a kind of iterative or adaptative manner. Details of the application of this procedure to 1D and 2D advective–diffusive problems are given. Some examples of applications showing the potential of the new approach are presented. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

固体中短波传播单位分解有限元法的解析积分

针对固体中短波传播数值模拟的单位分解有限元法中单元矩阵积分的被积函数的强烈振荡特性,应用直角坐标系下标准有限元形函数和单元内的波动方向知识提出了一种单元矩阵的解析积分方案。它对于平面三,六,四,八和九节点的直边单位分解有限单元是完全解析的,对于与这些单元相应的曲边单元则是半解析的。数值结果显示所提出的积分方案在计算效率上比高斯-勒让德积分有大幅度提高。