Upper-bound limit analysis based on the natural element method

The natural element method （NEM） is a newly- developed numerical method based on Voronoi diagram and Delaunay triangulation of scattered points, which adopts natural neighbour interpolation to construct trial functions in the framework of Galerkin method. Owing to its distinctive advantages, the NEM is used widely in many problems of computational mechanics. Utilizing the NEM, this paper deals with numerical limit analysis of structures made up of perfectly rigid-plastic material. According to kinematic the- orem of plastic limit analysis, a mathematical programming natural element formulation is established for determining the upper bound multiplier of plane problems, and a direct iteration algorithm is proposed accordingly to solve it. In this algorithm, the plastic incompressibility condition is handled by two different treatments, and the nonlinearity and nons- moothness of the goal function are overcome by distinguishing the rigid zones from the plastic zones at each iteration. The procedure implementation of iterative process is quite simple and effective because each iteration is equivalent to solving an associated elastic problem. The obtained limit load multiplier is proved to monotonically converge to the upper bound of true solution. Several benchmark examples are investigated to validate the significant performance of the NEM in the application field of limit analysis.

C^1 natural element method for strain gradient linear elasticity and its application to microstructures

C^1 natural element method （C^1 NEM） is applied to strain gradient linear elasticity, and size effects on mi crostructures are analyzed. The shape functions in C^1 NEM are built upon the natural neighbor interpolation （NNI）, with interpolation realized to nodal function and nodal gradient values, so that the essential boundary conditions （EBCs） can be imposed directly in a Galerkin scheme for partial differential equations （PDEs）. In the present paper, C^1 NEM for strain gradient linear elasticity is constructed, and sev- eral typical examples which have analytical solutions are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the constructed method. In its application to microstructures, the size effects of bending stiffness and stress concentration factor （SCF） are studied for microspeciem and microgripper, respectively. It is observed that the size effects become rather strong when the width of spring for microgripper, the radius of circular perforation and the long axis of elliptical perforation for microspeciem come close to the material characteristic length scales. For the U-shaped notch, the size effects decline obviously with increasing notch radius, and decline mildly with increasing length of notch.

Hybrid natural element method for viscoelasticity problems

A hybrid natural element method（HNEM） for two-dimensional viscoelasticity problems under the creep condition is proposed. The natural neighbor interpolation is used as the test function, and the discrete equation system of the HNEM for viscoelasticity problems is obtained using the Hellinger–Reissner variational principle. In contrast to the natural element method（NEM）, the HNEM can directly obtain the nodal stresses, which have higher precisions than those obtained using the moving least-square（MLS） approximation. Some numerical examples are given to demonstrate the validity and superiority of this HNEM.

Hybrid natural element method for large deformation elastoplasticity problems

We present the hybrid natural element method（HNEM） for two-dimensional elastoplastic large deformation problems. Sibson interpolation is adopted to construct the shape functions of nodal incremental displacements and incremental stresses. The incremental form of Hellinger–Reissner variational principle for elastoplastic large deformation problems is deduced to obtain the equation system. The total Lagrangian formulation is used to describe the discrete equation system.Compared with the natural element method（NEM）, the HNEM has higher computational precision and efficiency in solving elastoplastic large deformation problems. Some numerical examples are selected to demonstrate the advantage of the HNEM for large deformation elastoplasticity problems.

Application of Natural Elements in Landscape Environment Optimization of Underground Garage

With the increase of car share in the city,the scale of underground garage construction is expanding,and the importance of underground garage space in people’s daily life is also increasing.However,the closed and dark space of the traditional underground garage obviously can not meet the modern life in the city,and landscape environment optimization of underground garage gradually enters people’s vision.In this study,the natural elements that can be introduced into the underground garage for landscape design were classifi ed and sorted,and the design methods were discussed with examples.Finally,the development of landscape environment design of underground garage was prospected.

The Application of Natural Elements in Interior Landscape Design and its Principal Analysis

The rapid development of the decoration industry creates a good development space for interior decoration,and the public pays more attention to the integration of natural elements in the process of interior decoration.In this regard,this article introduces the ways in which natural elements are embodied in indoor landscapes,and expounds the principles of using natural elements in indoor landscapes,hoping to provide references for relevant personnel.

Kinematic Shakedown Analysis for Strain-Hardening Plates with the C1 Nodal Natural Element Method

This paper proposes a novel numerical solution approach for the kinematic shakedown analysis of strain-hardening thin plates using the C^(1)nodal natural element method(C^(1)nodal NEM).Based on Koiter’s theorem and the von Mises and two-surface yield criteria,a nonlinear mathematical programming formulation is constructed for the kinematic shakedown analysis of strain-hardening thin plates,and the C^(1)nodal NEM is adopted for discretization.Additionally,König’s theory is used to deal with time integration by treating the generalized plastic strain increment at each load vertex.A direct iterative method is developed to linearize and solve this formulation by modifying the relevant objective function and equality constraints at each iteration.Kinematic shakedown load factors are directly calculated in a monotonically converging manner.Numerical examples validate the accuracy and convergence of the developed method and illustrate the influences of limited and unlimited strain-hardening models on the kinematic shakedown load factors of thin square and circular plates.

A New Classification Method of Stress Modes in Hybrid Stress Finite Element

The paper presents a new method for classifying the stress modes in hybrid stress finite element in terms of natural stress modes in finite element and the rank analysis of matrix G in forming element It reveals the relation among the different assumed stress field, and gives the general method in forming stress field Comparing with the method of eigenvalue analysis, the new method is more efficient

Upper Bound Shakedown Analysis of Plates Utilizing the C^(1) Natural Element Method

This paper proposes a numerical solution method for upper bound shakedown analysis of perfectly elasto-plastic thin plates by employing the C^(1) natural element method.Based on the Koiter’s theorem and von Mises yield criterion,the nonlinear mathematical programming formulation for upper bound shakedown analysis of thin plates is established.In this formulation,the trail function of residual displacement increment is approximated by using the C^(1) shape functions,the plastic incompressibility condition is satisfied by introducing a constant matrix in the objective function,and the time integration is resolved by using the Konig’s technique.Meanwhile,the objective function is linearized by distinguishing the non-plastic integral points from the plastic integral points and revising the objective function and associated equality constraints at each iteration.Finally,the upper bound shakedown load multipliers of thin plates are obtained by direct iterative and monotone convergence processes.Several benchmark examples verify the good precision and fast convergence of this proposed method.

THE COUPLING METHOD FOR TORSION PROBLEM OF THE SQUARE CROSS-SECTION BAR WITH CRACKS

By coupling natural boundary element method (NBEM) with FEM based on domain decomposition, the torsion problem of the square cross-sections bar with cracks have been studied, the stresses of the nodes of the cross-sections and the stress intensity factors have been calculated, and some distribution pictures of the stresses have been drawn. During computing, the effect of the relaxed factors to the convergence speed of the iterative method has been discussed. The results of the computation have confirmed the advantages of the NBEM and its coupling with the FEM.

A Study of Natural Elements in French Ecological Writer Jean Giono’s Works

The French writer Jean Giono is an ecological writer in the Provence region of France.He uses the natural environment of Provence and his life experience as the basis of his work,linking the four basic natural elements—earth,air,water and fire—with specific natural images such as mountain,wind,river and sun,and constructing a poetic natural space where substance and imagination sit side by side.By combining subjectivity and objectivity in natural space,his works demonstrate how natural elements and the essence of life help reveal each other and come to a harmonious unity.

DOMAIN DECOMPOSITION WITH NONMATCHING GRIDS FOR EXTERIOR TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS VIA FEM AND DTN MAPPING

In this paper, we are concerned with a non-overlapping domain decomposition method （DDM） for exterior transmission problems in the plane. Based on the natural boundary integral operator, we combine the DDM with a Dirichlet-to-Neumann （DtN） mapping and provide the numerical analysis with nonmatching grids. The weak continuity of the approximation solutions on the interface is imposed by a dual basis multiplier. We show that this multiplier space can generate optimal error estimate and obtain the corresponding rate of convergence. Finally, several numerical examples confirm the theoretical results.

THE ELLIPSOID ARTIFICIAL BOUNDARY METHOD FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL UNBOUNDED DOMAINS

The artificial boundary method is applied to solve three-dimensional exterior problems. Two kind of rotating ellipsoids are chosen as the artificial boundaries and the exact artificial boundary conditions are derived explicitly in terms of an infinite series. Then the well-posedness of the coupled variational problem is obtained. It is found that error estimates derived depend on the mesh size, truncation term and the location of the artificial boundary. Three numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method.