Adaptive finite element heterogeneous multiscale method for homogenization problems

In this paper we present an a posteriori error analysis for elliptic homogenization problems discretized by the finite element heterogeneous multiscale method. Unlike standard finite element methods, our discretization scheme relies on macro- and microfinite elements. The desired macroscopic solution is obtained by a suitable averaging procedure based on microscopic data. As the macroscopic data (such as the macroscopic diffusion tensor) are not available beforehand, appropriate error indicators have to be defined for designing adaptive methods. We show that such indicators based only on the available macro- and microsolutions (used to compute the actual macrosolution) can be defined, allowing for a macroscopic mesh refinement strategy which is both reliable and efficient. The corresponding a posteriori estimates for the upper and lower bound are derived in the energy norm. In the case of a uniformly oscillating tensor, we recover the standard residual-based a posteriori error estimate for the finite element method applied to the homogenized problem. Numerical experiments confirm the efficiency and reliability of the adaptive multiscale method.     

A multiscale extended finite element method for crack propagation

In this paper, we propose a multiscale strategy for crack propagation which enables one to use a refined mesh only in the crack’s vicinity where it is required. Two techniques are used in synergy: a multiscale strategy based on a domain decomposition method to account for the crack’s global and local effects efficiently, and a local enrichment technique (the X-FEM) to describe the geometry of the crack independently of the mesh. The focus of this study is the avoidance of meshing difficulties and the choice of an appropriate scale separation to make the strategy efficient. We show that the introduction of the crack’s discontinuity both on the microscale and on the macroscale is essential for the numerical scalability of the domain decomposition method to remain unaffected by the presence of a crack. Thus, the convergence rate of the iterative solver is the same throughout the crack’s propagation.     

A multiscale empirical modeling framework for system identification

A multiscale system identification methodology is presented and discussed, that extends, in a systematic way, the classical board of single-scale system identification tools to a multiscale context. The proposed approach is built upon a wavelet-based multiscale decomposition in a receding horizon sliding window that always includes the last measured values, in order to make it adequate for on-line use. Several examples are presented that illustrate different features of the multiscale modeling framework, such as its improved ability to perform prediction in output variables having most of its energy concentrated at intermediate or coarser time scales when compared to input variables, and its intrinsic smoothing capability.     

扩展的多尺度有限元法基本原理

阐述一种适用于非均质材料力学性能分析的扩展的多尺度有限元法（Extended Multiscale Finite Element Method,EMsFEM）的基本原理．该方法的基本思想是利用数值方法构造能反映胞体单元内部材料非均质影响的多尺度基函数,在此基础上求得粗网格层次的等效单元刚度阵,从而在粗网格尺度上对原问题进行求解,很大程度地减少计算量．以该方法进行的具有周期和随机微观结构的材料计算示例,通过与传统有限元法的结果比较,说明这一方法的有效性．EMsFEM的优势在于,能容易地进行降尺度计算,可较准确地求得单元内部的微观应力应变信息,在非均质材料强度和非线性分析中有很大的应用潜力．     

Application of multiscale elastic homogenization based on nanoindentation for high performance concrete

The paper aims at developing a simple two-step homogenization scheme for prediction of elastic properties of a high performance concrete (HPC) in which microstructural heterogeneities are distinguished with the help of nanoindentation. The main components of the analyzed material include blended cement, fly-ash and fine aggregate. The material heterogeneity appears on several length scales as well as porosity that is accounted for in the model. Grid nanoindentation is applied as a fundamental source of elastic properties of individual microstructural phases in which subsequent statistical evaluation and deconvolution of phase properties are employed. The multilevel porosity is evaluated from combined sources, namely mercury intrusion porosimetry and optical image analyses. Micromechanical data serve as input parameters for analytical (Mori–Tanaka) and numerical FFT-based elastic homogenizations at microscale. Both schemes give similar results and justify the isotropic character of the material. The elastic stiffness matrices are derived from individual phase properties and directly from the grid nanoindentation data with very good agreement. The second material level, which accounts for large air porosity and aggregate, is treated with analytical homogenization to predict the overall composite properties. The results are compared with macroscopic experimental measurements received from static and dynamic tests. Also here, good agreement was achieved within the experimental error, which includes microscale phase interactions in a very dense heterogeneous composite matrix. The methodology applied in this paper gives promising results for the better prediction of HPC elastic properties and for further reduction of expensive experimental works that must be, otherwise, performed on macroscopic level.     

A multiscale numerical method for the heterogeneous cable equation

Several interesting problems in neuroscience are of multiscale type, i.e. possess different temporal and spatial scales that cannot be disregarded. Such characteristics impose severe burden to numerical simulations since the need to resolve small scale features pushes the computational costs to unreasonable levels. Classical numerical methods that do not resolve the small scales suffer from spurious oscillations and lack of precision.This paper presents an innovative numerical method of multiscale type that ameliorates these maladies. As an example we consider the case of a cable equation modeling heterogeneous dendrites. Our method is not only easy to parallelize, but it is also nodally exact, i.e., it matches the values of the exact solution at every node of the discretization mesh, for a class of problems.To show the validity of our scheme under different physiological regimes, we describe how the model behaves whenever the dendrites are thin or long, or the longitudinal conductance is small. We also consider the case of a large number of synapses and of large or low membrane conductance.     

Perturbation based stochastic finite element method for homogenization of two-phase elastic composites

The main idea of the paper is to apply the second order perturbation and stochastic second central moment technique to solve the homogenization problem. In order to determine the effective elasticity tensor, the prevailing computational methodology discussed in the literature so far was the Monte-Carlo simulation providing appropriate expected values and higher order probabilistic moments of the effective tensor components. The technique applied in this paper aims at significantly reducing the computational cost of the simulation without sacrificing the solution accuracy. The numerical example substantiates this claim in the case of a periodic fiber-reinforced plane strain composite with random fiber and matrix Young’s moduli.     

A parallel finite element procedure for contact-impact problems

An efficient parallel finite element procedure for contact-impact problems is presented within the framework of explicit finite element analysis with thepenalty method. The procedure concerned includes a parallel Belytschko-Lin-Tsay shell element generation algorithm and a parallel contact-impact algorithm based on the master-slave slideline algorithm. An element-wise domain decomposition strategy and a communication minimization strategy are featured to achieve almost perfect load balancing among processors and to show scalability of the parallel performance. Throughout this work, a prototype code, named GT-PARADYN, is developed on the IBM SP2 to implement the procedure presented, under message-passing paradigm. Some examples are provided to demonstrate the timing results of the algorithms, discussing the accuracy and efficiency of the code.     

CDM based finite element code for concrete in 3-D

This paper presents a three dimensional finite element code DAMAG3D for nonlinear analysis of concrete type materials modeled as elastic-damage. The CDM model adopted is the one as proposed by SUARIS W, OUYANG C, FERNANDO V. M. Damage model for cyclic loading of concrete. J Engng Mech, American Society of Civil Engineers 1990; 116(5): 1020-35. for monotonic and cyclic loading of concrete structures. Code DAMAG3D is applied to simulate response of concrete under monotonically increasing load paths of uniaxial compression, Brazilian test, strip loading and patch loading, with reasonable correlation established with experimental results and results from other nonlinear constitutive models.     

Finite element methods for unsteady solidification problems arising in prediction of morphological structure

Galerkin finite element methods are presented for calculation of the dynamic transitions between planar and deep two-dimensional cellular interface morphologies in directional solidification of a binary alloy from models that include solute transport, the phase diagram, and the interfacial free energy between melt and crystals. The unknown melt-solid interface shape is accounted for in the finite element formulation by mapping the equations to a fixed domain. Novel nonorthogonal transformations are introduced combining cylindrical and Cartesian coordinate interface representations for approximating the deep cellular interfaces that evolve from a planar solidification front. The algorithm for time integration combines a fully implicit Adams-Moulton algorithm with the Isotherm-Newton method for solving the nonlinear set of differential-algebraic equations that result from the spatial discretization of the moving-boundary problem. The fully implicit scheme is found to be more accurate and efficient than an explicit predictor-corrector algorithm. Sample calculations show the connectivity between families of shapes with resonant spatial wavelengths.     

A posteriori error estimates of two-grid finite volume element methods for nonlinear elliptic problems

In this paper, we study the a posteriori error estimates of two-grid finite volume element method for second-order nonlinear elliptic equations. We derive the residual-based a posteriori error estimator and prove the computable upper and lower bounds on the error in $H^1$-norm. The a posteriori error estimator can be used to assess the accuracy of the two-grid finite volume element solutions in practical applications. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed estimator.     

An equivalent multiscale method for 2D static and dynamic analyses of lattice truss materials

A uniform multiscale computational method is developed for 2D static and dynamic analyses of lattice truss materials in elasticity based on the extended multiscale finite element method. A kind of multi-node coarse element is proposed to describe the more complex deformations compared with the original four-node coarse element and the mode base functions are added into the original multiscale base functions to consider the effects of inertial forces for the dynamic problems. The constructions of the displacement and mode base functions are introduced in detail. In addition, the orthogonality of the displacement and mode base functions are also proved, which indicates that the macroscopic displacement DOF and modal DOF are irrelevant and independent of each other. Finally, some numerical experiments are carried out to verify the validity and efficiency of the proposed method by comparison with the reference solution obtained by the standard finite element method on the fine mesh.     

ERMES: A nodal-based finite element code for electromagnetic simulations in frequency domain

In this work we present a new finite element code in frequency domain called ERMES. The novelty of this computational tool rests on the formulation behind it. ERMES is the C++ implementation of a simplified version of the weighted regularized Maxwell equation method. This finite element formulation has the advantage of producing well-conditioned matrices and the capacity of solving problems in the low (quasi-static) and high frequency regimens. As a consequence of this versatility, ERMES has been applied successfully to microwave engineering, antenna design, electromagnetic compatibility and eddy currents problems. This paper describes the main features of ERMES and explains how to use this numerical tool for computing electromagnetic fields in frequency domain.     

A dynamic stiffness element for free vibration analysis of composite beams and its application to aircraft wings

The dynamic stiffness matrix of a composite beam that exhibits both geometric and material coupling between bending and torsional motions is developed and subsequently used to investigate its free vibration characteristics. The formulation is based on Hamilton’s principle leading to the governing differential equations of motion in free vibration, which are solved in closed analytical form for harmonic oscillation. By applying the boundary conditions the frequency dependent dynamic stiffness matrix that relates the amplitudes of loads to those of responses is then derived. Finally the Wittrick-Williams algorithm is applied to the resulting dynamic stiffness matrix to compute the natural frequencies and mode shapes of an illustrative example. The results are discussed and some conclusions are drawn. The theory can be applied for modal analysis of high aspect ratio composite wings and can be further extended to aeroelastic studies.