A rigid-flexible coupling finite element model of coupler for analyzing train instability behavior during collision

Rail vehicles generate huge longitudinal impact loads in collisions.If unreasonable matching exists between the compressive strength of the intermediate coupler and the structural strength of the car body,the risk of car body structure damage and train derailment will increase.Herein,a four-stage rigid-flexible coupling finite element model of the coupler is established considering the coupler buckling load.The influence of the coupler buckling load on the train longitudinal-vertical-hori-zontal buckling behavior was studied,and the mechanism of the train horizontal buckling instability in train collisions was revealed.Analysis results show that an intermediate coupler should be designed to ensure that the actual buckling load is less than the compressive load when the car body structure begins to deform plastically.The actual buckling load of the coupler and the asymmetry of the structural strength of the car body in the lateral direction are two important influencing factors for the lateral buckling of a train collision.If the strength of the two sides of the car body structure in the lateral direction is asymmetrical,the deformation on the weaker side will be larger,and the end of the car body will begin to deflect under the action of the coupler force,which in turn causes the train to undergo sawtooth buckling.

Analysis of ground vibrations due to underground trains by 2.5D finite/infinite element approach

The 2.5D finite/infinite element approach is adopted to study wave propagation problems caused by underground moving trains. The irregularities of the near field, including the tunnel structure and parts of the soil, are modeled by the finite elements, and the wave propagation properties of the far field extending to infinity are modeled by the infinite elements. One particular feature of the 2.5D approach is that it enables the computation of the three-dimensional response of the half-space, taking into account the load-moving effect, using only a two-dimensional profile. Although the 2.5D finite/infinite element approach shows a great advantage in studying the wave propagation caused by moving trains, attention should be given to the calculation aspects, such as the rules for mesh establishment, in order to avoid producing inaccurate or erroneous results. In this paper, some essential points for consideration in analysis are highlighted, along with techniques to enhance the speed of the calculations. All these observations should prove useful in making the 2.5D finite/infinite element approach an effective one.

Computing of the Anchor by the Method of Three-Dimension Point-Radiate Infinite Elements

On the basis of the one-dimension infinite element theory, the coordinate translation and shape function of 3D point-radiate 8-node and 4-node infinite elements are derived. They are coupled with 20-node and 8-node finite elements to compute the compression distortion of the prestressed anchorage segment. The results indicate that when the prestressed force acts on the anchorage head and segment, the stresses and the displacements in the rock around the anchorage head and segment concentrate on the zone center with the anchor axis, and they decrease with exponential forms. Therefore,the stresses and the displacement spindles are formed. The calculating results of the infinite element are close to the theoretical results. This indicates the method is right. This article introduces a new way to study the mechanism of prestressed anchors. The obtained results have an important role in the research of the anchor mechanism and engineering application.

ANALYSES ON NONLINEAR COUPLING OF MAGNETO-THERMO-ELASTICITY OF FERROMAGNETIC THIN SHELL—II:FINITE ELEMENT MODELING AND APPLICATION

Based on the generalized vaxiational principle of magneto-thermo-elasticity of a ferromagnetic thin shell established （see, Analyses on nonlinear coupling of magneto-thermo- elasticity of ferromagnetic thin shell--I）, the present paper developed a finite element modeling for the mechanical-magneto-thermal multi-field coupling of a ferromagnetic thin shell. The numerical modeling composes of finite element equations for three sub-systems of magnetic, thermal and deformation fields, as well as iterative methods for nonlinearities of the geometrical large-deflection and the multi-field coupling of the ferromagnetic shell. As examples, the numerical simulations on magneto-elastic behaviors of a ferromagnetic cylindrical shell in an applied magnetic field, and magneto-thermo-elastic behaviors of the shell in applied magnetic and thermal fields are carried out. The results are in good agreement with the experimental ones.

Vehicle–track–tunnel dynamic interaction:a finite/infinite element modelling method

The aim of this study is to develop coupled matrix formulations to characterize the dynamic interaction between the vehicle,track,and tunnel.The vehicle–track coupled system is established in light of vehicle–track coupled dynamics theory.The physical characteristics and mechanical behavior of tunnel segments and rings are modeled by the finite element method,while the soil layers of the vehicle–track–tunnel(VTT)system are modeled as an assemblage of 3-D mapping infinite elements by satisfying the boundary conditions at the infinite area.With novelty,the tunnel components,such as rings and segments,have been coupled to the vehicle–track systems using a matrix coupling method for finite elements.The responses of sub-systems included in the VTT interaction are obtained simultaneously to guarantee the solution accuracy.To relieve the computer storage and save the CPU time for the large-scale VTT dynamics system with high degrees of freedoms,a cyclic calculation method is introduced.Apart from model validations,the necessity of considering the tunnel substructures such as rings and segments is demonstrated.In addition,the maximum number of elements in the tunnel segment is confirmed by numerical simulations.

INFINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR PROBLEMS ON UNBOUNDED AND MULTIPLY CONNECTED DOMAINS

The author studies the infinite element method for the boundary value problems of second order elliptic equations on unbounded and multiply connected domains. The author makes a partition of the domain into infinite number of elements. Without dividing the domain, as usual, into a bounded one and an exterior one, he derives an initial value problem of an ordinary differential equation for the combined stiffness matrix, then obtains the approximate solution with a small amount of computer work. Numerical examples are given.

THE COUPLING OF BOUNDARY ELEMENT AND FINITE ELEMENT METHODS FOR THE EXTERIOR NONSTATIONARY NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS

In this paper, we represent a new numerical method for solving the nonstationary Stokes equations in an unbounded domain. The technique consists in coupling the boundary integral and finite element methods. The variational formulation and well posedness of the coupling method are obtained. The convergence and optimal estimates for the approximation solution are provided.

Calculation of the Coupling Coefficient of Twin-Core Fiber Based on the Supermode Theory with Finite Element Method

Currently, coupled mode theory (CMT) is widely used for calculating the coupling coefficient of twin-core fibers (TCFs) that are used in a broad range of important applications. This approach is highly accurate for scenarios with weak coupling between the cores but shows significant errors in the strong coupling scenarios, necessitating the use of a more accurate method for coupling coefficient calculations. Therefore, in this work, we calculate the coupling coefficients of TCFs using the supermode theory with finite element method (FEM) that has higher accuracy than CMT, particularly for the strong coupling TCF. To investigate the origin of the differences between the results obtained by these two methods, the modal field distributions of the supermodes of TCF are simulated and analyzed in detail.

THE h-p VERSION OF THE INFINITE ELEMENT METHOD AND ITS APPLICATION

The paper investigates the h-p version of the infinite element method. An exponential conver gence can be abtained by a small amount of computing work.

ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE LAMINATE BEAMS USING COUPLING CROSS-SECTION FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Beams and plates manufactured from laminates of composite materials have distinct advantages in a significant number of applications. However, the anisotropy arising from these materials adds a significant degree of complexity, and thus time, to the stress and deformation analyses of such components, even using numerical approaches such as finite elements. The analysis of composite laminate beams subjected to uniform extension, bending, and/or twisting loads was performed by a novel implementation of the usual finite element method. Due to the symmetric features of the deformations, only a thin slice of the beam to be analysed needs to be modelled. Conventional threedimensional solid finite elements were used for the structural discretization. The accurate deformation relationships were formulated and implemented through the coupling of nodal translational degrees of freedom in the numerical analysis. A sample solution for a rectangular composite laminate beam is presented to show the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

A DOMAIN DECOMPOSITION ALGORITHM WITH FINITE ELEMENT-BOUNDARY ELEMENT COUPLING

A domain decomposition algorithm coupling the finite element and the boundary element was presented. It essentially involves subdivision of the analyzed domain into sub-regions being independently modeled by two methods, i.e., the finite element method （FEM） and the boundary element method （BEM）. The original problem was restored with continuity and equilibrium conditions being satisfied on the interface of the two sub-regions using an iterative algorithm. To speed up the convergence rate of the iterative algorithm, a dynamically changing relaxation parameter during iteration was introduced. An advantage of the proposed algorithm is that the locations of the nodes on the interface of the two sub-domains can be inconsistent. The validity of the algorithm is demonstrated by the consistence of the results of a numerical example obtained by the proposed method and those by the FEM, the BEM and a present finite element-boundary element （FE-BE） coupling method.

NEW ALGORITHM OF COUPLING ELEMENT-FREE GALERKIN WITH FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Through the construction of a new ramp function, the element-flee Galerkin method and finite element coupling method were applied to the whole field, and was made fit for the structure of element nodes within the interface regions, both satisfying the essential boundary conditions and deploying meshless nodes and finite elements in a convenient and flexible way, which can meet the requirements of computation for complicated field. The comparison between the results of the present study and the corresponding analytical solutions shows this method is feasible and effective.

A Finite Element Procedure for Analysis of Chemo-Mechanical Coupling Behavior of Hydrogels

Chemo-mechanical coupling behavior of materials is a transformation process between mechanical and chemical energy.In this paper,based on the coupled chemo-mechanical constitutive equations and governing equations during isothermal process,the equivalent integral forms of chemo-mechanical coupling governing equations and corresponding finite element procedure are obtained by using Hamilton’s principle.An isoparametric plane element for chemo-mechanical coupling is associated into ABAQUS finite element package through user element subroutine UEL.The numerical examples exhibit that the ionic concentration variation can cause mechanical deformation and mechanical action can produce redistribution of ionic concentration for hydrogels.It is proved that the present developed chemo-mechanical coupling finite element procedure can be utilized to model the coupling behavior of hydrogels effectively.

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.

On the Total Dynamic Response of Soil-Structure Interaction System in Time Domain Using Elastodynamic Infinite Elements with Scaling Modified Bessel Shape Functions

This paper is devoted to a new approach—the dynamic response of Soil-Structure System (SSS), the far field of which is discretized by decay or mapped elastodynamic infinite elements, based on scaling modified Bessel shape functions are to be calculated. These elements are appropriate for Soil-Structure Interaction problems, solved in time or frequency domain and can be treated as a new form of the recently proposed elastodynamic infinite elements with united shape functions (EIEUSF) infinite elements. Here the time domain form of the equations of motion is demonstrated and used in the numerical example. In the paper only the formulation of 2D horizontal type infinite elements (HIE) is used, but by similar techniques 2D vertical (VIE) and 2D corner (CIE) infinite elements can also be added. Continuity along the artificial boundary (the line between finite and infinite elements) is discussed as well and the application of the proposed elastodynamical infinite elements in the Finite element method is explained in brief. A numerical example shows the computational efficiency and accuracy of the proposed infinite elements, based on scaling Bessel shape functions.

The simulation of electrostatic coupling intra-body communication based on the finite-element method

In this paper, investigation has been done in the computer simulation of the electrostatic coupling IBC by using the developed finite-element models, in which a.the incidence and reflection of electronic signal in the upper arm model were analyzed by using the theory of electromagnetic wave;b.the finite-element models of electrostatic coupling IBC were developed by using the electromagnetic analysis package of ANSYS software;c.the signal attenuation of electrostatic coupling IBC were simulated under the conditions of different signal frequencies, electrodes directions, electrodes sizes and transmission distances. Finally, some important conclusions are deduced on the basis of simulation results.

COUPLED SIMULATION OF 3D ELECTRO-MAGNETO-FLOW FIELD IN HALL-HEROULT CELLS USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Two full 3D steady mathematical models are developed by finite element method （FEM） to calcalate coupled physics fields. the electro-magnetic model is built and solved first and so is the fluid motion model with the acquired electromagnetic force as source body forces in Navier-Stokes equations. Effects caused by the ferromagnetic shell, busbar system around, and open boundary problem as well as inside induced current were considered in terms of the magnetic field. Furthermore, a new modeling method is found to set up solid models and then mesh them entirely with so-called structuralized grids, namely hex-mesh. Examples of 75kA prebaked cell with two kinds of busbar arrangements are presented. Results agree with those disclosed in the literature and confirm that the coupled simulation is valid. It is also concluded that the usage of these models facilitates the consistent analysis of the electric field to magnetic field and then flow motion to the greater extent, local distributions of current density and magnetic flux density are very much dependent on the cell structure, the steel shell is a shield to reduce the magnetic field and flow pattern is two dimensional in the main body of the metal pad.

A MULTI-COUPLED FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING PROCESS

A two-dimensional axisymmetric finite element model is developed to analyze the transient thermal and mechanical behaviors of the Resistance Spot Welding （RSW） process using commercial software ANSYS. Firstly a direct-coupled electrical-thermal Finite Element Analysis （FEA） is performed to analyze the transient thermal characteristics of the RSW process. Then based on the thermal results a sequential coupled thermo-elastic-plastic analysis is conducted to determine the mechanical features of the RSW process. The thermal history of the whole process and the temperature distribution of the weldment are obtained through the analysis. The mechanical features, including the distributions of the contact pressure at both the faying surface and the electrode-workpiece interface, the stress and strain distributions in the weldment and their changes during the RSW process, the deformation of the weldment and the electrode displacement are also calculated.