An 8-Node Plane Hybrid Element for StructuralMechanics Problems Based on the Hellinger-Reissner Variational Principle

The finite element method (FEM) plays a valuable role in computer modeling and is beneficial to the mechanicaldesign of various structural parts. However, the elements produced by conventional FEM are easily inaccurate andunstable when applied. Therefore, developing new elements within the framework of the generalized variationalprinciple is of great significance. In this paper, an 8-node plane hybrid finite element with 15 parameters (PHQ8-15β) is developed for structural mechanics problems based on the Hellinger-Reissner variational principle.According to the design principle of Pian, 15 unknown parameters are adopted in the selection of stress modes toavoid the zero energy modes.Meanwhile, the stress functions within each element satisfy both the equilibrium andthe compatibility relations of plane stress problems. Subsequently, numerical examples are presented to illustrate theeffectiveness and robustness of the proposed finite element. Numerical results show that various common lockingbehaviors of plane elements can be overcome. The PH-Q8-15β element has excellent performance in all benchmarkproblems, especially for structures with varying cross sections. Furthermore, in bending problems, the reasonablemesh shape of the new element for curved edge structures is analyzed in detail, which can be a useful means toimprove numerical accuracy.

Equivalent Theorem of Hellinger-Reissner and Hu-Washizu Variational Principles

The paper has proved that Hellinger-Reissuer and Hu-Washizu variational principles are but equivalent principles in elasticity by following three ways: 1) Lagrange multiplier method. The paper points out that only a new independent variable can be introduced when one constraint equation has been eliminated by one Lagrange multiplier, which must be expressed as a function of the original variable(s) and/or the new introduced variable after identification. In using Lagrange multiplier method to deduce Hu-Washizu principle from the minimum potential energy principle, which has only one kind of independent variable namely displacement, by eliminating the constraint equations of stress-displacement relations, one can only obtain a principle with two kinds of variables namely displacement and stress; 2) involutory transformation, with such method Hu-Washizu variational principle can be deduce directly from the Hellinger-Reissner variational principle under the same variational constraints of Stress-strain relation, and vice verse; 3)semi-inverse method, by which both of the above variational principles can be deduced from the minimum potential energy principle with tile same variational constraints. So the three kinds of variational functions in Hu-Washizu variational principle are not independent to each other,the stress-strain relationships are still its constraint conditions.

FURTHER STUDY OF THE EQUIVALENT THEOREM OF HELLINGER-REISSNER AND HU-WASHIZU VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES

In this paper, it has been pro ved that the well_known Hu_Washizu variational principle is a pseudo_generalized variational principle(pseudo_GVP). The stationary conditions of its functional may satisfy all its field equations and boundary conditions if all the variables in the functional are considered as independent variations, but there might exi st some kinds of constraints. Some new pseudo_GVPs are established to distinguis h them from genuine ones by the so_called inverse Lagrange multiplier method. Th e constrained Hu_Washizu principle, therefore, is proved to be equivalent with t he Hellinger_Reissner principle under the constraints of stress_strain relations .

THE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE FOR THE PACKING ENTROPY OF NONAUTONOMOUS DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS

Let(X,φ) be a nonautonomous dynamical system.In this paper,we introduce the notions of packing topological entropy and measure-theoretical upper entropy for nonautonomous dynamical systems.Moreover,we establish the variational principle between the packing topological entropy and the measure-theoretical upper entropy.

GURTIN-TYPE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR DYNAMICS OF A NON-LOCAL THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM SATURATED POROUS MEDIUM

Based on the porous media theory and by taking into account the efects of the pore fuid viscidity, energy exchanges due to the additional thermal conduction and convection between solid and fuid phases, a mathematical model for the dynamic-thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling of a non-local thermal equilibrium fuid-saturated porous medium, in which the two constituents are assumed to be incompressible and immiscible, is established under the assumption of small de- formation of the solid phase, small velocity of the fuid phase and small temperature changes of the two constituents. The mathematical model of a local thermal equilibrium fuid-saturated porous medium can be obtained directly from the above one. Several Gurtin-type variational principles, especially Hu-Washizu type variational principles, for the initial boundary value problems of dy- namic and quasi-static responses are presented. It should be pointed out that these variational principles can be degenerated easily into the case of isothermal incompressible fuid-saturated elastic porous media, which have been discussed previously.

Highly accurate symplectic element based on two variational principles

For the stability requirement of numerical resultants, the mathematical theory of classical mixed methods are relatively complex. However, generalized mixed methods are automatically stable, and their building process is simple and straightforward. In this paper, based on the seminal idea of the generalized mixed methods, a simple, stable, and highly accurate 8-node noncompatible symplectic element(NCSE8) was developed by the combination of the modified Hellinger-Reissner mixed variational principle and the minimum energy principle. To ensure the accuracy of in-plane stress results, a simultaneous equation approach was also suggested. Numerical experimentation shows that the accuracy of stress results of NCSE8 are nearly the same as that of displacement methods, and they are in good agreement with the exact solutions when the mesh is relatively fine. NCSE8 has advantages of the clearing concept, easy calculation by a finite element computer program, higher accuracy and wide applicability for various linear elasticity compressible and nearly incompressible material problems. It is possible that NCSE8 becomes even more advantageous for the fracture problems due to its better accuracy of stresses.

MODIFIED H-R MIXED VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE FOR MAGNETOELECTROELASTIC BODIES AND STATE-VECTOR EQUATION

Based upon the Hellinger-Reissner (H-R) mixed variational principle for three-dimensional elastic bodies, the modified H-R mixed variational theorem for magnetoelectroelastic bodies was established. The state-vector equation of magnetoelectroelastic plates was derived from the proposed theorem by performing the variational operations. To lay a theoretical basis of the semi-analytical solution applied with the magnetoelectroelastic plates, the state-vector equation for the discrete element in plane was proposed through the use of the proposed principle. Finally, it is pointed out that the modified H-R mixed variational principle for pure elastic, single piezoelectric or single piezomagnetic bodies are the special cases of the present variational theorem.

Discrete variational principle and first integrals for Lagrange-Maxwell mechanico-electrical systems

This paper presents a discrete vaxiational principle and a method to build first-integrals for finite dimensional Lagrange-Maxwell mechanico-electrical systems with nonconservative forces and a dissipation function. The discrete variational principle and the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations are derived from a discrete action associated to these systems. The first-integrals are obtained by introducing the infinitesimal transformation with respect to the generalized coordinates and electric quantities of the systems. This work also extends discrete Noether symmetries to mechanico-electrical dynamical systems. A practical example is presented to illustrate the results.

GURTIN VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE AND FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION FOR DYNAMICAL PROBLEMS OF FLUID-SATURATED POROUS MEDIA

Based on the theory of porous media, a general Gurtin variational principle for the initial boundary value problem of dynamical response of fluid-saturated elastic porous media is developed by assuming infinitesimal deformation and incompressible constituents of the solid and fluid phase. The finite element formulation based on this variational principle is also derived. As the functional of the variational principle is a spatial integral of the convolution formulation, the general finite element discretization in space results in symmetrical differential-integral equations in the time domain. In some situations, the differential-integral equations can be reduced to symmetrical differential equations and, as a numerical example, it is employed to analyze the reflection of one-dimensional longitudinal wave in a fluid-saturated porous solid. The numerical results can provide further understanding of the wave propagation in porous media.

VECTORIAL EKELAND'S VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE WITH A W-DISTANCE AND ITS EQUIVALENT THEOREMS

By using the properties of w-distances and Gerstewitz＇s functions, we first give a vectorial Takahashi＇s nonconvex minimization theorem with a w-distance. From this, we deduce a general vectorial Ekeland＇s variational principle, where the objective function is from a complete metric space into a pre-ordered topological vector space and the perturbation contains a w-distance and a non-decreasing function of the objective function value. From the general vectorial variational principle, we deduce a vectorial Caristfs fixed point theorem with a w-distance. Finally we show that the above three theorems are equivalent to each other. The related known results are generalized and improved. In particular, some conditions in the theorems of [Y. Araya, Ekeland＇s variational principle and its equivalent theorems in vector optimization, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 346（2008）, 9-16] are weakened or even completely relieved.

SEMI-INVERSE METHOD AND GENERALIZED VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES WITH MULTI-VARIABLES IN ELASTICITY

Semi-inverse method, which is an integration and an extension of Hu's try-and-error method, Chien's veighted residual method and Liu's systematic method, is proposed to establish generalized variational principles with multi-variables without arty variational crisis phenomenon. The method is to construct an energy trial-functional with an unknown function F, which can be readily identified by making the trial-functional stationary and using known constraint equations. As a result generalized variational principles with two kinds of independent variables (such as well-known Hellinger-Reissner variational principle and Hu-Washizu principle) and generalized variational principles with three kinds of independent variables (such as Chien's generalized variational principles) in elasticity have been deduced without using Lagrange multiplier method. By semi-inverse method, the author has also proved that Hu-Washizu principle is actually a variational principle with only two kinds of independent variables, stress-strain relations are still its constraints.

A VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE OF PERTURBED MOTION ON VISCOELASTIC THIN PLATES WITH APPLICATIONS

In this paper, in the light of the Boltzmann superpositionprinciple in linear viscoelastic- ity, a mathematical model ofperturbed motion on viscoelastic thin place is established. Thecorre- sponding variational principle is obtained in a convolutionbilinear form. For application the problems of free vibration, forcedvibration and stability of a viscoelastic simply-supportedrectangular thin plate are considered. The results show thatnumerical solutions agree well with analytical solutions.

GENERALIZED VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF THE VISCOELASTIC BODY WITH VOIDS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

From the Boltzmann's constitutive law of viscoelastic materials and the linear theory of elastic materials with voids, a constitutive model of generalized force fields for viscoelastic solids with voids was given. By using the variational integral method, the convolution-type functional was given and the corresponding generalized variational principles and potential energy principle of viscoelastic solids with voids were presented. It can be shown that the variational principles correspond to the differential equations and the initial and boundary conditions of viscoelastic body with voids. As an application, a generalized variational principle of viscoelastic Timoshenko beams with damage was obtained which corresponds to the differential equations of generalized motion and the initial and boundary conditions of beams. The variational principles provide a way for solving problems of viscoelastic solids with voids.

Variational principle and dynamical equations of discrete nonconservative holonomic systems

By analogue with the methods and processes in continuous mechanics, a Lagrangian formulation and a Hamiltonian formulation of discrete mechanics are obtained. The dynamical equations including Euler Lagrange equations and Hamilton＇s canonical equations of the discrete nonconservative holonomic systems are derived on a discrete variational principle. Some illustrative examples are also given.

THE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR PYROELECTRIC MEDIA

The pyroelectric medium is an important material in the application of smart materials and structures. It is necessary to systematically discuss ail kinds of variational principles which play a very significant role in the fundamental theory of mechanics and numerical analysis method. This paper firstly gives the quasi-static and the dynamic variational principles,then the principles for eigen problems. As a simple example, the principle was finally applied to derive the fundamental, equations for an anisotropic piezoelectric plate.

Variational Principle of Instability of Atmospheric Motions

Problems of instability of rotating atmospheric motions are investigated by using nonlinear governing equations and the variational principle. The method suggested in this paper is universal for obtaining criteria of instability in all models with all possible basic flows. For example, the model can be barotropic or baroclinic, layer or continuous, quasi-geostrophic or primitive equations; the basic flow can be zonal or nonzonal, steady or unsteady.Although the basic flows possess a great deal of variety, they all are the stationary points in the functional space determined by an appropriate invariant functional. The basic flow is an unsteady one if the conservation of angular momentum is included in the associated functional.The second variation, linear or nonlinear, gives the criteria of instability. Especially, the general criteria of instability for unsteady basic flow, orographically disturbed flow as well as nongeostrophic flow are first obtained by the method described in this paper.It is also shown that the difference between the criteria of instability obtained by the linear theory and our variational principle clearly indicates the importance of using nonlinear governing equations.In the appendix the theory is extended to cases such as in a β-plane where the fluid does not possess finite total energy, hence the variational principle can not be directly applied. However, a generalized Liapbunoff norm can still be obtained on the basis of variational consideration.

PARAMETRIC VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE BASED ELASTIC-PLASTIC ANALYSIS OF COSSERAT CONTINUUM

A new algorithm is developed based on the parametric variational principle for elastic-plastic analysis of Cosserat continuum. The governing equations of the classic elastic-plastic problem are regularized by adding rotational degrees of freedom to the conventional translational degrees of freedom in conventional continuum mechanics. The parametric potential energy princi- ple of the Cosserat theory is developed, from which the finite element formulation of the Cosserat theory and the corresponding parametric quadratic programming model are constructed. Strain localization problems are computed and the mesh independent results are obtained.

Recent Advances on Herglotz’s Generalized Variational Principle of Nonconservative Dynamics

This paper summarized the recent development on Herglotz’s generalized variational principle and its symmetries and conserved quantities for nonconservative dynamical systems.Taking Lagrangian mechanics,Hamiltonian mechanics and Birkhoffian mechanics as three research frames,we introduce Herglotz’s generalized variational principle,dynamical equations of Herglotz type,Noether symmetry and conserved quantities,and their generalization to time-delay dynamics,fractional dynamics and time-scale dynamics,and put forward some problems as suggestions for future research.

Variational principles for buckling and vibration of MWCNTs modeled by strain gradient theory

Variational principles for the buckling and vibration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） are established with the aid of the semi-inverse method. They are used to derive the natural and geometric boundary conditions coupled by small scale parameters. Hamilton＇s principle and Rayleigh＇s quotient for the buckling and vibration of the MWCNTs are given. The Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to study the buckling and vibration of the single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） and double-walled carbon nanotubes （DWCNTs） with three typical boundary conditions. The numerical results reveal that the small scale parameter, aspect ratio, and boundary conditions have a profound effect on the buckling and vibration of the SWCNTs and DWCNTs.

Modified Lagrange Multiplier Method and Generalized Variational Principle in Fluid Mechanics

The Lagrange multiplier method plays an important role in establishing generalized variational principles notonly in tluid mechallics. but also in elasticity. Sometimes, however, one may come across variational crisis(somemultipliers vanish identically). failing to achieve his aim. The crisis is caused by the fact that the Inultipliers are treatedas independent variables in the process of variatioll. but after identification they become functions of the originalindependent variables. To overcome it, a Inodified Lagrange multiplier method or semi-inverse method has beenproposed to deduce generalized varistional principles. Some e-camples are given to illustrate its convenience andeffectiveness of the novel method.