Development and Application of a High-Performance Triangular Shell Element and an Explicit Algorithm in OpenSees for Strongly Nonlinear Analysis

The open-source finite element software,OpenSees,is widely used in the earthquake engineering community.However,the shell elements and explicit algorithm in OpenSees still require further improvements.Therefore,in this work,a triangular shell element,NLDKGT,and an explicit algorithm are proposed and implemented in OpenSees.Specifically,based on the generalized conforming theory and the updated Lagrangian formulation,the proposed NLDKGT element is suitable for problems with complicated boundary conditions and strong nonlinearity.The accuracy and reliability of the NLDKGT element are validated through typical cases.Furthermore,by adopting the leapfrog integration method,an explicit algorithm in OpenSees and a modal damping model are developed.Finally,the stability and efficiency of the proposed shell element and explicit algorithm are validated through the nonlinear time-history analysis of a highrise building.

An explicit finite volume element method for solving characteristic level set equation on triangular grids

Level set methods are widely used for predicting evolutions of complex free surface topologies,such as the crystal and crack growth,bubbles and droplets deformation,spilling and breaking waves,and two-phase flow phenomena.This paper presents a characteristic level set equation which is derived from the two-dimensional level set equation by using the characteristic-based scheme.An explicit finite volume element method is developed to discretize the equation on triangular grids.Several examples are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method for calculating interface evolutions in time.The proposed level set method is also coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations for two-phase immiscible incompressible flow analysis with surface tension.The Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem is used to test and evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

A 3-Node Co-Rotational Triangular Finite Element for Non-Smooth,Folded and Multi-Shell Laminated Composite Structures

Based on the first-order shear deformation theory,a 3-node co-rotational triangular finite element formulation is developed for large deformation modeling of non-smooth,folded and multi-shell laminated composite structures.The two smaller components of the mid-surface normal vector of shell at a node are defined as nodal rotational variables in the co-rotational local coordinate system.In the global coordinate system,two smaller components of one vector,together with the smallest or second smallest component of another vector,of an orthogonal triad at a node on a non-smooth intersection of plates and/or shells are defined as rotational variables,whereas the two smaller components of the mid-surface normal vector at a node on the smooth part of the plate or shell(away from non-smooth intersections)are defined as rotational variables.All these vectorial rotational variables can be updated in an additive manner during an incremental solution procedure,and thus improve the computational efficiency in the nonlinear solution of these composite shell structures.Due to the commutativity of all nodal variables in calculating of the second derivatives of the local nodal variables with respect to global nodal variables,and the second derivatives of the strain energy functional with respect to local nodal variables,symmetric tangent stiffness matrices in local and global coordinate systems are obtained.To overcome shear locking,the assumed transverse shear strains obtained from the line-integration approach are employed.The reliability and computational accuracy of the present 3-node triangular shell finite element are verified through modeling two patch tests,several smooth and non-smooth laminated composite shells undergoing large displacements and large rotations.

Finite Element Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Mixed Convection in a Lid-Driven Trapezoidal Enclosure Having Heated Triangular Block

A numerical research on magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection flow in a lid-driven trapezoidal enclosure at non-uniform heating of bottom wall has been studied numerically. The enclosure consists of insulated top wall and cold side walls, too. It also contains a heated triangular block (Rot = 0° - 90°) located somewhere inside the enclosure. The boundary top wall of the enclosure is moving through uniform speed U0. The geometry of the model has been represented mathematically by coupled governing equations in accordance with proper boundary conditions and then a two-dimensional Galerkin finite element based numerical approach has been adopted to solve this paper. The numerical computations have been carried out for the wide range of parameters Prandtl number (0.5 ≤ Pr ≤ 2), Reynolds number (60 ≤ Re ≤ 120), Rayleigh number (Ra = 103) and Hartmann number (Ha = 20) taking with different rotations of heated triangular block. The results have been shown in the form of streamlines, temperature patterns or isotherms, average Nusselt number and average bulk temperature of the fluid in the enclosure at non-uniform heating of bottom wall. It is also indicated that both the streamlines, isotherm patterns strongly depend on the aforesaid governing parameters and location of the triangular block but the thermal conductivity of the triangular block has a noteworthy role on the isotherm pattern lines. Moreover, the variation of Nuav of hot bottom wall and θav in the enclosure is demonstrated here to show the characteristics of heat transfer in the enclosure.

TRIANGULAR ELEMENTS FOR REISSNER-MINDLIN PLATE

A general method to construct locking free Reissner-Mindlin plate elements is presented. According to this method the shear strain is replaced by its proper interpolation polynomial, which corresponds to the Kirchoff conditions at the interpolation points as the thickness of plate tends to zero, so the element is locking free. We construct two triangular elements by this method - a 3-node element and a 6-node element. The numerical results are provided.

The Numerical Integration of Discrete Functions on a Triangular Element

With the application of Hammer integral formulas of a continuous function on a triangular element, the numerical integral formulas of some discrete functions on the element are derived by means of decomposition and recombination of base functions. Hammer integral formulas are the special examples of those of the paper.

The Triangular Hermite Finite Element Complementing the Bogner-Fox-Schmit Rectangle

The Bogner-Fox-Schmit rectangular element is one of the simplest elements that provide continuous differentiability of an approximate solution in the framework of the finite element method. However, it can be applied only on a simple domain composed of rectangles or parallelograms whose sides are parallel to two different straight lines. We propose a new triangular Hermite element with 13 degrees of freedom. It is used in combination with the Bogner-Fox-Schmit element near the boundary of an arbitrary polygonal domain and provides continuous differentiability of an approximate solution in the whole domain up to the boundary.

18-DOF Triangular Quasi-Conforming Element for Couple Stress Theory

The basic idea of quasi-conforming method is that the strain-dis-placement equations are weakened as well as the equilibrium equations.In this paper,an 18-DOF triangular element for couple stress theory is proposed within the framework of quasi-conforming technique.The formulation starts from truncated Taylor expansion of strains and appropriate interpolation functions are chosen to calculate strain integration.This element satisfies C0 continuity with second order accuracy and weak C1 continuity simultaneously.Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed model can pass the C0??1 patch test and has high accuracy.The element does not exhibit extra zero energy modes and can capture the scale effects of microstructure.

Analysis of Linear Triangular Elements for Convection-diffusion Problems by Streamline Diffusion Finite Element Methods

This paper is devoted to studying the superconvergence of streamline diffusion finite element methods for convection-diffusion problems. In [8], under the condition that ε ≤ h^2 the optimal finite element error estimate was obtained in L^2-norm. In the present paper, however, the same error estimate result is gained under the weaker condition that ε≤h.

A Second Order Nonconforming Triangular Mixed Finite Element Scheme for the Stationary Navier-Stokes Equations

In this paper, a nonconforming triangular mixed finite element scheme with second order convergence behavior is proposed for the stationary Navier-Stokes equations.The new nonconforming triangular element is taken as approximation space for the velocity and the linear element for the pressure. The convergence analysis is presented and optimal error estimates of both broken H^1-norm and L^2-norm for velocity as well as the L^2-norm for the pressure are derived.

Finite layer and triangular prism element method to subsidence prediction and stress analysis in underground mining

The application of the finite layer & triangular prism element method to the 3D ground subsidence and stress analysis caused by mining is presented. The layer elements and the triangular prism elements have been alternatively used in the numerical simulation system, the displacement pattern, strain matrix, elastic matrix, stiffness matrix, load matrix and the stress matrix of the layer element and triangular prism element have been presented. By means of the Fortran90 programming language, a numerical simulation system based on finite layer & triangular prism element have been built up, and this system is suitable for subsidence prediction and stress analysis of all mining condition and mining methods. Comparing with the infinite element method, this approach dramatically reduces the size of the set of equations that need to be solved, and greatly reduces the amount of data preparation required. It not only saves the internal storage, and the computation time, but also decreases the cost.

Introduction to Mesh Based Generated Lumped Parameter Models for Electromagnetic Problems using Triangular Elements

This paper is an introduction to mesh based generated reluctance network modeling using triangular elements.Many contributions on mesh based generated reluctance networks using rectangular shaped elements have been published,but very few on those generated from a mesh using triangular elements.The use of triangular elements is aimed at extending the application of the approach to any shape of modeled devices.Basic concepts of the approach are presented in the case of electromagnetic devices.The procedure for coding the approach in the case of a flat linear permanent magnet machine is presented.Codes developed under MATLAB environment are also included.

Finite Element Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Natural Convection within Semi-Circular Top Enclosure with Triangular Obstacles

The phenomena of magneto-hydrodynamic natural convection in a two-dimensional semicircular top enclosure with triangular obstacle in the rectangular cavity were studied numerically. The governing differential equations are solved by using the most important method which is finite element method (weighted-residual method). The top wall is placed at cold Tc and bottom wall is heated Th. Here the sidewalls of the cavity assumed adiabatic. Also all the wall are occupied to be no-slip condition. A heated triangular obstacle is located at the center of the cavity. The study accomplished for Prandtl number Pr = 0.71;the Rayleigh number Ra = 103, 105, 5 × 105, 106 and for Hartmann number Ha = 0, 20, 50, 100. The results represent the streamlines, isotherms, velocity and temperature fields as well as local Nusselt number.

Highly efficient H^1-Galerkin mixed finite element method (MFEM) for parabolic integro-differential equation

A highly efficient H1-Galerkin mixed finite element method （MFEM） is presented with linear triangular element for the parabolic integro-differential equation. Firstly, some new results about the integral estimation and asymptotic expansions are studied. Then, the superconvergence of order O（h^2） for both the original variable u in H1 （Ω） norm and the flux p = u in H（div, Ω） norm is derived through the interpolation post processing technique. Furthermore, with the help of the asymptotic expansions and a suitable auxiliary problem, the extrapolation solutions with accuracy O（h^3） are obtained for the above two variables. Finally, some numerical results are provided to confirm validity of the theoretical analysis and excellent performance of the proposed method.

Numerical Simulations of Hydromagnetic Mixed Convection Flow of Nanofluids inside a Triangular Cavity on the Basis of a Two-Component Nonhomogeneous Mathematical Model

Nanofluids have enjoyed a widespread use in many technological applications due to their peculiar properties.Numerical simulations are presented about the unsteady behavior of mixed convection of Fe_(3)O_(4)-water,Fe_(3)O_(4)-kerosene,Fe_(3)O_(4)-ethylene glycol,and Fe_(3)O_(4)-engine oil nanofluids inside a lid-driven triangular cavity.In particular,a two-component non-homogeneous nanofluid model is used.The bottom wall of the enclosure is insulated,whereas the inclined wall is kept a constant(cold)temperature and various temperature laws are assumed for the vertical wall,namely:
θ=1(Case 1),θ=Yð1YÞ(Case 2),andθ=sinð2-YÞ(Case 3).A tilted magnetic field of uniform strength is also present in the fluid domain.From a numerical point of view,the problem is addressed using the Galerkin weighted residual finite element method.The role played by different parameters is assessed,discussed critically and interpreted from a physical standpoint.We find that a higher aspect ratio can produce an increase in the average Nusselt number.Moreover,the Fe_(3)O_(4)-EO and Fe_(3)O_(4)-H2O nanofluids provide the highest and smallest rate of heat transfer,respectively,for all the considered(three variants of)thermal boundary conditions.

Enhancement of natural convection heat transfer from a fin by triangular perforation of bases parallel and toward its tip

This study examines the heat transfer enhancement from a horizontal rectangular fin embedded with triangular perforations （their bases parallel and toward the fin tip） under natural convection. The fin＇s heat dissipation rate is compared to that of an equivalent solid one. The parameters considered are geometrical dimensions and thermal properties of the fin and the perforations. The gain in the heat transfer enhancement and the fin weight reduction due to the perforations are considered. The study shows that the heat dissipation from the perforated fin for a certain range of triangular perforation dimensions and spaces between perforations result in improvement in the heat transfer over the equivalent solid fin. The heat transfer enhancement of the perforated fin increases as the fin thermal conductivity and its thickness are increased.

Development of quadrilateral spline thin plate elements using the B-net method

The quadrilateral discrete Kirchhoff thin plate bending element DKQ is based on the isoparametric element Q8, however, the accuracy of the isoparametric quadrilateral elements will drop significantly due to mesh distortions. In a previous work, we constructed an 8-node quadrilateral spline element L8 using the triangular area coordinates and the B- net method, which can be insensitive to mesh distortions and possess the second order completeness in the Cartesian co- ordinates. In this paper, a thin plate spline element is devel- oped based on the spline element L8 and the refined tech- nique. Numerical examples show that the present element indeed possesses higher accuracy than the DKQ element for distorted meshes.

THE DISPLACEMENT FUNCTION OF QUASI-CONFORMING ELEMENT AND ITS NODE ERROR

Based on the strain formulation of the quasi-conforming finite element, displacement functions are constructed which have definite physical meaning, and a conclusion can be obtained that the coefficients of the constant and the linear strain are uniquely determined, and the quasi-conforming finite element method is convergent to constant strain. There are different methods for constructing the rigid displacement items, and different methods correspond to different order node errors, and this is different from ordinary displacement method finite element.

THE EFFECT OF AN ELASTIC TRIANGULAR INCLUSION ON A CRACK

The interaction between an elastic triangular inclusion and a crack is investigated. The problem is formulated using the boundary integral equations for traction boundary value problems derived by Chau and Wang as basic equations. By using the continuity condition of traction and displacement on interface as supplement equations, a set of equations for solving the interaction problem between an inclusion and a crack are obtained, which are solved by using a new boundary element method. The results in terms of stress intensity factors (SIFs) are calculated for a variety of crack_inclusion arrangements and the elastic constants of the matrix and the inclusion. The results are valuable for studying new composite materials.

THE GENERATION OF NON－LINEAR STIFFNESS MATRIX OF TRIANGLE ELEMENT WHENCONSIDERING BOTH THE BENDING AND IN－PLANEME MBRANE FORCES

Using Stricklin Melhod￣[5],we have this paper has derived the formulas for the ge-neration of non-linear element stiffness matrix of a triangle element when considering both the bending and the in-plane membrane forces. A computer programme for the calculation of large deflection and inner forces of shallow shells is designed on theseformulas. The central deflection curve computed by this programme is compared with other pertaining results.