A New Isogeometric Finite Element Method for Analyzing Structures

High-performance finite element research has always been a major focus of finite element method studies.This article introduces isogeometric analysis into the finite element method and proposes a new isogeometric finite element method.Firstly,the physical field is approximated by uniform B-spline interpolation,while geometry is represented by non-uniform rational B-spline interpolation.By introducing a transformation matrix,elements of types C^(0)and C^(1)are constructed in the isogeometric finite element method.Subsequently,the corresponding calculation formats for one-dimensional bars,beams,and two-dimensional linear elasticity in the isogeometric finite element method are derived through variational principles and parameter mapping.The proposed method combines element construction techniques of the finite element method with geometric construction techniques of isogeometric analysis,eliminating the need for mesh generation and maintaining flexibility in element construction.Two elements with interpolation characteristics are constructed in the method so that boundary conditions and connections between elements can be processed like the finite element method.Finally,the test results of several examples show that:(1)Under the same degree and element node numbers,the constructed elements are almost consistent with the results obtained by traditional finite element method;(2)For bar problems with large local field variations and beam problems with variable cross-sections,high-degree and multi-nodes elements constructed can achieve high computational accuracy with fewer degrees of freedom than finite element method;(3)The computational efficiency of isogeometric finite element method is higher than finite element method under similar degrees of freedom,while as degrees of freedom increase,the computational efficiency between the two is similar.

Modal and Thermal Analysis of a Modified Connecting Rod of an Internal Combustion Engine Using Finite Element Method

The connecting rod is one of the most important moving components in an internal combustion engine. The present work determined the possibility of using aluminium alloy 7075 material to design and manufacture a connecting rod for weight optimisation without losing the strength of the connecting rod. It considered modal and thermal analyses to investigate the suitability of the material for connecting rod design. The parameters that were considered under the modal analysis were: total deformation, and natural frequency, while the thermal analysis looked at the temperature distribution, total heat flux and directional heat flux of the four connecting rods made with titanium alloy, grey cast iron, structural steel and aluminium 7075 alloy respectively. The connecting rod was modelled using Autodesk inventor2017 software using the calculated parameters. The steady-state thermal analysis was used to determine the induced heat flux and directional heat flux. The study found that Aluminium 7075 alloy deformed more than the remaining three other materials but has superior qualities in terms of vibrational natural frequency, total heat flux and lightweight compared to structural steel, grey cast iron and titanium alloy.

Transient analysis of 1D inhomogeneous media by dynamic inhomogeneous finite element method

The dynamic inhomogeneous finite element method is studied for use in the transient analysis of one dimensional inhomogeneous media. The general formula of the inhomogeneous consistent mass matrix is established based on the shape function. In order to research the advantages of this method, it is compared with the general finite element method. A linear bar element is chosen for the discretization tests of material parameters with two fictitious distributions. And, a numerical example is solved to observe the differences in the results between these two methods. Some characteristics of the dynamic inhomogeneous finite element method that demonstrate its advantages are obtained through comparison with the general finite element method. It is found that the method can be used to solve elastic wave motion problems with a large element scale and a large number of iteration steps.

B-Spline Wavelet on Interval Finite Element Method for Static and Vibration Analysis of Stiffened Flexible Thin Plate

A new wavelet finite element method(WFEM)is constructed in this paper and two elements for bending and free vibration problems of a stiffened plate are analyzed.By means of generalized potential energy function and virtual work principle,the formulations of the bending and free vibration problems of the stiffened plate are derived separately.Then,the scaling functions of the B-spline wavelet on the interval(BSWI)are introduced to discrete the solving field variables instead of conventional polynomial interpolation.Finally,the corresponding two problems can be resolved following the traditional finite element frame.There are some advantages of the constructed elements in structural analysis.Due to the excellent features of the wavelet,such as multi-scale and localization characteristics,and the excellent numerical approximation property of the BSWI,the precise and efficient analysis can be achieved.Besides,transformation matrix is used to translate the meaningless wavelet coefficients into physical space,thus the resolving process is simplified.In order to verify the superiority of the constructed method in stiffened plate analysis,several numerical examples are given in the end.

Cracking analysis of fracture mechanics by the finite element method of lines(FEMOL)

The Finite Element Method of Lines （FEMOL） is a semi-analytic approach and takes a position between FEM and analytic methods. First, FEMOL in Fracture Mechanics is presented in detail. Then, the method is applied to a set of examples such as edge-crack plate, the central-crack plate, the plate with cracks emanating from a hole under tensile or under combination loads of tensile and bending. Their dimensionless stress distribution, the stress intensify factor （SIF） and crack opening displacement （COD） are obtained, and comparison with known solutions by other methods are reported. It is found that a good accuracy is achieved by FEMOL. The method is successfully modified to remarkably increase the accuracy and reduce convergence difficulties. So it is a very useful and new tool in studying fracture mechanics problems.

Parametric Analysis of Tensile Properties of Bimodal Al Alloys by Finite Element Method

An axisymmetrical unit cell model was used to represent a bimodal Al alloy that was composed of both nano-grained （NG） and coarse-grained （CG） aluminum. Effects of microstructural and materials parameters on tensile properties of bimodal AI alloy were investigated by finite element method （FEM）. The parameters analyzed included aspect ratios of CG Al and the unit cell, volume fraction of CG Al （VFCG）, and yield strength and strain hardening exponent of CG Al. Aspect ratios of CG Al and the unit cell have no significant influence on tensile stress-strain response of the bimodal Al alloy. This phenomenon derives from the similarity in elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion between CG AI and NG Al. Conversely, tensile properties of bimodal Al alloy are extremely sensitive to VFCG, yield strength and strain hardening exponent of CG Al. Specifically, as VFCG increases, both yield strength and ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of the bimodal Al alloy decreases, while uniform strain of bimodal AI alloy increases. In addition, an increase in yield strength of CG Al results in an increase in both yield stress and UTS of bimodal AI alloy and a decrease in uniform strain of bimodal Al alloy. The lower capability in lowering the increase of stress concentration in NG Al due to a higher yield strength of CG Al causes the lower uniform strain of the bimodal AI alloy. When strain hardening exponent of CG Al increases, 0.2% yield stress, UTS, and uniform strain of the bimodal Al alloy increases. This can be attributed to the increased work-hardening ability of CG Al with a higher strain hardening exponent.

APPLICATION OF STOCHASTIC FINITE ELEMENT METHOD TO STRENGTH AND STABILITY ANALYSIS OF EARTH DAMS

This paper applies the stochastic finite element method to analyse the statistics of stresses in earth dams and assess the safety and reliability of the dams. Formulations of the stochastic finite element method are briefly reviewed and the procedure for assessing dam's strength and stability is described. As an example, a detailed analysis for an actual dam Nululin dam is performed. A practical method for studying built-dams based on the prototype observation data is described.

Thermo-hydro-mechanical-air coupling finite element method and its application to multi-phase problems

In this paper, a finite element method （FEM）-based multi-phase problem based on a newly proposed thermal elastoplastic constitutive model for saturated/unsaturated geomaterial is discussed. A program of FEM named as SOFT, adopting unified field equations for thermo-hydro-mechanical-air （THMA） behavior of geomaterial and using finite element-finite difference （FE-FD） scheme for so/l-water-air three-phase coupling problem, is used in the numerical simulation. As an application of the newly proposed numerical method, two engineering problems, one for slope failure in unsaturated model ground and another for in situ heating test related to deep geological repository of high-level radioactive waste （HLRW）, are simulated. The model tests on slope failure in unsaturated Shirasu ground, carried out by Kitamura et al. （2007）, is simulated in the framework of soil-water-air three-phase coupling under the condition of constant temperature. While the in situ heating test reported by Munoz （2006） is simulated in the same framework under the conditions of variable temperature hut constant air pressure.

Elasto-Plastic Analysis of Tubular Joints of Offshore Platforms by Finite Element Method

The plastic node method is reformulated by the variational principle and is applied to elasto-plastic finite element analysis of tubular joints, eventually including the effect of internal and external gussets, stiffener rings, etc., if necessary. Four different joints are studied here in detail for the elasto-plastic behavior, the strain at the hot spot, the strain concentration factor around the intersection line, and the propagation of the plastic region with loading up to collapse in order to determine the ultimate strength, safety factor, and development of the plastic field. The present results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF PERFORATED THIN PLATES AND FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR BUCKLING AND POST-BUCKLING ANALYSIS

On the basis of the general theory of perforated thin plates under large deflections, variational principles with deflection w and stress function F as variables are stated in detail.Based on these princi- ples,finite element method is established for analysing the buckling and post-buckling of perforated thin plates. It is found that the property of element is very complicated,owing to the multiple connexity of the region.

Goal-oriented error estimation applied to direct solution of steady-state analysis with frequency-domain finite element method

Based on the concept of the constitutive relation error along with the residuals of both the origin and the dual problems, a goal-oriented error estimation method with extended degrees of freedom is developed. It leads to the high quality locM error bounds in the problem of the direct-solution steady-state dynamic analysis with a frequency-domain finite element, which involves the enrichments with plural variable basis functions. The solution of the steady-state dynamic procedure calculates the harmonic response directly in terms of the physical degrees of freedom in the model, which uses the mass, damping, and stiffness matrices of the system. A three-dimensional finite element example is carried out to illustrate the computational procedures.

An explicit finite element method for dynamic analysis in three-medium coupling system and its application

In this paper, an explicit finite element method to analyze the dynamic responses of three-medium coupled systems with any terrain is developed on the basis of the numerical simulation of the continuous conditions on the bounda-ries among fluid saturated porous medium, elastic single-phase medium and ideal fluid medium. This method is a very effective one with the characteristic of high calculating speed and small memory needed because the formulae for this explicit finite element method have the characteristic of decoupling, and which does not need to solve sys-tem of linear equations. The method is applied to analyze the dynamic response of a reservoir with considering the dynamic interactions among water, dam, sediment and basement rock. The vertical displacement at the top point of the dam is calculated and some conclusions are given.

Interval Analysis of the Finite Element Method for Stochastic Structures

A random parameter can be transformed into an interval number in the structural analysis with the concept of the confidence interval. Hence, analyses of uncertain structural systems can be used in the traditional FEM software. In some cases, the amount of solutions in stochastic structures is nearly as many as that in the traditional structural problems. In addition, a new method to evaluate the failure probability of structures is presented for the needs of the modern engineering design.

A FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR STRESS ANALYSIS OR ELASTOPLASTIC BODY WITH POLYGONAL LINE STRAIN——HARDENING

In this paper, the stress-strain curve of material is fitted by polygonal line composed of three lines. According to the theory of proportional loading in elastoplasticity, we simplify the complete stress-strain relations, which are given by the increment theory of elastoplasticity. Thus, the finite element equation with the solution of displacement is derived. The assemblage elastoplastic stiffness matrix can be obtained by adding something to the elastic matrix, hence it will shorten the computing time. The determination of every loading increment follows the von Mises yield criteria. The iterative method is used in computation. It omits the redecomposition of the assemblage stiffness matrix and it will step further to shorten the computing time. Illustrations are given to the high-order element application departure from proportional loading, the computation of unloading fitting to the curve and the problem of load estimation.

FINITE ELEMENT METHOD COMBINED WITH DYNAMIC PHOTOELASTIC ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE DYNAMIC STRESS-INTENSITY FACTORS

The present paper is addressed to the finite element method combined with dynamic photoelastic analysis of propagating cracks, that is, on the basis of [1] by Chien Wei-zang, finite elements which incorporate the propagating crack-tip singularity intrinsic to two-dimensional elasticity are employed. THe relation between crack opening length and time step obtained from dynamic photoelaslie analysis is used as a definite condition for solving the dynamic equations and simulating the crack propagations as well As an example, the impact response of dynamie-bending-test specimen is investigated and the dynamic stress-intensity factor obtained from the mentioned finite element analysis and dynamic photoelasticity is in reasonable agreement with each other.

A WEIGHTED PENALTY FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF POWER-LAW FLUID FLOW PROBLEMS

In this paper, a new finite element method for the flow analysis of the viscous incompressible power-law fluid is proposed by the use of penalty-hybrid/mixed finite element formulation and by the introduction of an alternative perturbation, which is weighted by viscosity, of the continuity equation. A numerical example is presented to exhibit the efficiency of the method.

COUPLED THERMO-MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADIENT WEAK/MICRO-DISCONTINUOUS INTERFACE WITH GRADED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of two bonded functionally graded materials subjected to thermal loads is conducted in this study with the graded finite element method. The thermal-mechanical properties of the bi-material interfaces are classified based on discontinuity degrees of their material properties and their derivatives at the interfaces. Numerical results indicate that discontinuity exerts remarkable effect on the temperature profile and stress value at the interface of two bonded functionally-graded materials. Under the thermal flux loading conditions, the stronger the interface discontinuity is, the smaller the heat flux is.

Stochastic Finite Element Method for Mechanical Vibration Based on Conjugate Gradient(CG)

When material properties, geometry parameters and applied loads are assumed to be stochastic, the vibration equation of a system is transformed to static problem by using Newmark method. In order to improve the computational efficiency and to save storage, the Conjugate Gradient （CG） method is presented. The CG is an effective method for solving a large system of linear equations and belongs to the method of iteration with rapid convergence and high precision. An example is given and calculated results are compared to validate the proposed methods.

Mechanical analysis of flexible integrated energy storage devices under bending by the finite element method

Although a great deal of studies focus on the design of flexible energy storage devices(ESDs),their mechanical behaviors under bending states are still not sufficiently investigated,and the understanding of the corresponding structural conversion therefore still lags behind.Here,we systematically and thoroughly investigated the mechanical behaviors of flexible all-in-one ESDs under bending deformation by the finite element method.The influences of thicknesses,Young’s moduli and Poisson’s ratios of electrodes and electrolyte were taken into account.Visualized and quantified results including displacement,strain energy,von Mises stress,and tensile,compressive,and interfacial shear stress are demonstrated and analyzed.Based on these results,significant conclusions are drawn for the design of flexible integrated ESDs with robust mechanical properties.This work will provide guidance for the design of ESDs with high flexibility.

Analysis and Design of Thermally Actuated Micro-Cantilevers for High Frequency Vibrations Using Finite Element Method

Vibrational behavior of thermally actuated cantilever micro-beams and their mechanical response at moderately high frequency under a non-harmonic periodic loading is studied in this paper. Two different configurations are considered: 1) a straight beam with two actuation layers on top and bottom which utilizes the bimorph effect to induce bending;2) a uniform beam with base excitation, where the beam is mounted on an actuator which moves it periodically at its base perpendicular to its axis. Generally, vibrating micro-cantilevers are required to oscillate at a specified frequency. In order to increase the efficiency of the system, and achieve deflections with low power consumption, geometrical features of the beams can be quantified so that the required vibrating frequency matches the natural frequencies of the beam. A parametric modal analysis is conducted on two configurations of micro-cantilever and the first natural frequency of the cantilevers as a function of geometrical parameters is extracted. To evaluate vibrational behavior and thermo-mechanical efficiency of micro-cantilevers as a function of their geometrical parameters and input power, a case study with a specified vibrating frequency is considered. Due to significant complexities in the loading conditions and thermo-mechanical behavior, this task can only be tackled via numerical methods. Selecting the geometrical parameters in order to induce resonance at the nominal frequency, non-linear time-history (transient) thermo-mechanical finite element analysis (using ANSYS) is run on each configuration to study its response to the periodic heating input. Approaches to improve the effectiveness of actuators in each configuration based on their implementation are investigated.