Formulations of a hydromechanical interface element

A hydromechanical interface element is proposed for the consideration of the hydraulic-mechanical coupling effect along the interface.The fully coupled governing equations and the relevant finite element formulations are derived in detail for the interface element.All the involved matrices are of the same form as those of a solid element,which makes the incorporation of the model into a finite element program straightforward.Three examples are then numerically simulated using the interface element.Reasonable results confirm the correctness of the proposed model and motivate its application in hydromechanical contact problems in the future.

CONTACT FRICTION ANALYSIS AND STRESS OSCILLATION SUPPRESSION WITH A SIMPLE INTERFACE ELEMENT

A simple interface element for analyzing contact friction problems is developed. Taking nodal displacements and contact stresses as unknowns, this element can simulate frictional slippage, decoupling and re-bonding of two bodies initially mating or having gaps at a common interface. The method is based on the Finite Element Method and load incremental theory. The geometric and static constraint conditions on contact surfaces are treated as additional conditions and are included in stiffness equations. This simple element has the advantages of easy implementation into standard finite element programs and fast speed for convergence as well as high accuracy for stress distribution in interface. Undesirable stress oscillations are also investigated whenever large stress gradients exist over the contact surfaces. Exact integration or the conventional Gauss integration scheme used to evaluate the interpolation function matrix of the interface element is found to be the source of the oscillations. Eigenmode analysis demonstrates that the stress behavior of an interface element can be improved by using the Newton-Cotes integration scheme. Finally, the test example of a strip footing problem is presented.

A second order isoparametric finite element method for elliptic interface problems

A second order isoparametric finite element method （IPFEM） is proposed for elliptic interface problems. It yields better accuracy than some existing second-order methods, when the coefficients or the flux across the immersed curved interface is discontinuous. Based on an initial Cartesian mesh, a mesh optimization strategy is presented by employing curved boundary elements at the interface, and an incomplete quadratic finite element space is constructed on the optimized mesh. It turns out that the number of curved boundary elements is far less than that of the straight one, and the total degree of freedom is almost the same as the uniform Cartesian mesh. Numerical examples with simple and complicated geometrical interfaces demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

ANALYSIS OF INTERPHASE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR WITH INTERFACE ELEMENT IN THE COMPOSITE MATERIALS

In this paper,stress distribution is obtained by employing the interface element to simulate the interphase feature between fiber-matrix in single-ply laminar which consists of fiber arranged periodically in the x-axis direction and matrix,and which is subjected to far-field transverse load the contour of stress σsz and radial stress σr in the vicinity of interphase are plotted for three different interphase cases.It is made known that the effect of interphase properties in stress distribution is obvious.

Implementation and verification of interface constitutive model in FLAC^(3D)

Due to the complexity of soil-structure interaction, simple constitutive models typically used for interface elements in general computer programs cannot satisfy the requirements of discontinuous deformation analysis of structures that contain different interfaces. In order to simulate the strain-softening characteristics of interfaces, a nonlinear strain-softening interface constitutive model was incorporated into fast Lagrange analysis of continua in three dimensions （FLAC3D） through a user-defined program in the FISH environment. A numerical simulation of a direct shear test for geosynthetic interfaces was conducted to verify that the interface model was implemented correctly. Results of the numerical tests show good agreement with the results obtained from theoretical calculations, indicating that the model incorporated into FLAC3D can simulate the nonlinear strain-softening behavior of interfaces involving geosynthetic materials. The results confirmed the validity and reliability of the improved interface model. The procedure and method of implementing an interface constitutive model into a commercial computer program also provide a reference for implementation of a new interface constitutive model in FLAC3D.

Prediction of welding distortion during assembly process of thin plate structures

Ships and automobiles are fabricated front thin plates. To assemble parts, welding is commonly employed. However, welding distortion in large thin-plate panel structure is usually cased by buckling due to the residual stress. In this study, an elastic finite element method for predicting the welding distortion of three-dimensional thin-plate structures with considering welding sequence was proposed. In this method, the inherent strain was employed to model the local shrinkage due to welding itself, and the interface element was introduced to simulate the assembly process. The proposed method was applied to study the influence of welding sequence on the buckling distortion of the large thin-plate panel structure during assembly.

Reservoir water effects on earthquake performance evaluation of Torul Concrete-Faced Rockfill Dam

This study presents earthquake performance analysis of the Torul Concrete-Faced Rockfill （CFR） Dam with two-dimensional dam-soil and dam-soil-reservoir finite element models. The Lagrangian approach was used with fluid elements to model impounded water. The interface elements were used to simulate the slippage between the concrete face slab and the rockfill. The horizontal component of the 1992 Erzincan earthquake, with a peak ground acceleration of 0.515g, was considered in time-history analysis. The Drucker-Prager model was preferred in nonlinear analysis of the concrete slab, rockfill and foundation soil. The maximum principal stresses and the maximum displacements in two opposite directions were compared by the height of the concrete slab according to linear time-history analysis to reveal the effect of reservoir water. The changes of critical displacements and principal stresses with time are also shown in this paper. According to linear and nonlinear time-history analysis, the effect of the reservoir water on the earthquake performance of the Torul CFR Dam was investigated and the possible damage situation was examined. The results show that the hydrodynamic pressure of reservoir water leads to an increase in the maximum displacements and principal stresses of the dam and reduces the earthquake performance of the dam. Although the linear time-history analysis demonstrates that the earthquake causes a momentous damage to the concrete slab of the Torul CFR Dam, the nonlinear time-history analysis shows that no evident damage occurs in either reservoir case.