Finite Element Formulation of Viscoelastic Constitutive Equations Using Fractional Time Derivatives

Fractional time derivatives are used to deduce a generalization ofviscoelastic constitutive equations of differential operator type. Theseso-called fractional constitutive equations result in improvedcurve-fitting properties, especially when experimental data from longtime intervals or spanning several frequency decades need to be fitted.Compared to integer-order time derivative concepts less parameters arerequired. In addition, fractional constitutive equations lead to causalbehavior and the concept of fractional derivatives can be physicallyjustified providing a foundation of fractional constitutive equations.First, three-dimensional fractional constitutive equations based onthe Grünwaldian formulation are derived and their implementationinto an elastic FE code is demonstrated. Then, parameter identificationsfor the fractional 3-parameter model in the time domain as well as inthe frequency domain are carried out and compared to integer-orderderivative constitutive equations. As a result the improved performanceof fractional constitutive equations becomes obvious. Finally, theidentified material model is used to perform an FE time steppinganalysis of a viscoelastic structure.