This work is a stepping stone towards developing higher order shell element for simulating composite manufacturing procedure. In this study, a continuum approach suitable for combined material and geometrically nonlinear analysis for an eight node solid shell element SS8 is explained. The formulation of SS8 comprises two ingredients to alleviate undesirable locking effects: 1) Assumed Natural Strain concept, which has proven to alleviate the curvature thickness and transverse shear locking problems. 2) Enhanced Assumed Strain, which adds enhanced degrees of freedom to improve the in-plane response of the element and the curvature thickness locking problem. This formulation has been extended to represent geometric and material non-linearity using Total Lagrangian approach. Finally, finite strain formulation has been verified by numerical examples. Results when compared to continuum shell element in ABAQUS show a reasonable agreement with a relative error of less than 2%.

This study aims at the description, modelling and numerical prediction of ductile fracture in inelastic solids undergoing thermomechanical static or dynamic loading. Several research areas of contemporary interest in computer analysis of solids and structures are covered. The theoretical methodologies, computer implementations and practical applications will be treated. This thesis summarizes my recent research works since 1989 at the MSM Department of the University of Liège. However, it should also be useful to those who are interested in the most recent developments in finite element methods and in applying these techniques to the analysis of real industrial problems. Numerous references to original sources are included. For the convenience of the reader, each chapter of the thesis is designed to be self-contained, starts with a summary of the topic addressed, and finishes with an outline of the main results presented. Numerical examples are organized at the end of chapter 2 to 8 to assess the performance and applicability of the proposed mechanical and finite element models developed in each of them. Hereafter, a brief overview of the thesis is given. After a brief introduction in chapter 1, the numerical tools that are necessary to perform large strain thermomechanical static or dynamic analysis of solids are presented. In chapter 2, a general strategy for nonlinear dynamic finite element formulation is presented, including explicit and implicit time integration schemes. A special emphasis is placed on the application of high-speed metalforming and frictional contact-impact problems. Chapter 3 describes a strategy for solving problems involving transient thermal and thermomechanical analysis. A class of unified and mixed solid, thermal and coupled thermomechanical finite elements by assumed strain method is developed in chapter 4. Special care is taken to hourglass ans locking control. Once these developments are validated and their efficiency tested, it is then possible to tackle the problem of ductile fracture prediction and propagation. In chapter 5, a bibliographic research on the "local approach of ductile fracture" is presented. The implementation of six fracture criteria into various constitutive laws for predicting fracture initiation sites is also shown. A fully coupled elasto(-visco)-plastic damage model for isotropic material is developed in chapter 6. This model is based on irreversible thermodynamics theory and on the energy equivalence hypothesis. Chapter 7 presents the theoretical and experimental comparison for isotropic ductile material at fracture. Finally in chapter 8, the isotropic damage model of chapter 6 is extended to the case of anisotropic solids in which the damage growth itself is also anisotropic. The above developments have been implemented to an existing finite element code LAGAMINE developed since 1982 at the MSM Department of the University of Liège and are applied to many real engineering problems such as high speed rolling, magnetoforming, impact upsetting, dynamic forging, deep drawing of axisymmetric ans square cups, hot upsetting, warm folding of 3D sheet, non-isothermal hemispherical punch stretching, and other contact-impact examples.

La simulation numérique par la méthode des éléments finis (MEF) fournit de nos jours une grande aide pour les ingénieurs dans les processus de conception d’optimisation des produits. Malgré le développement croissant des ressources de calcul, la fiabilité et l’efficacité des simulations numériques par la MEF restent à améliorer. Ce travail de thèse consiste à développer une famille d’éléments solide-coque (SHB) pour la modélisation tridimensionnelle des structures minces. Cette famille d’éléments SHB est basée sur une formulation tridimensionnelle en grands déplacements et rotations. La technique dite “d’intégration réduite dans le plan”, en utilisant un nombre arbitraire de points d’intégration dans la direction de l’épaisseur, permet la modélisation des structures minces avec une seule couche d'éléments. Dans ce travail de thèse, deux éléments linéaires SHB prismatique et hexaédrique, ainsi que leurs contreparties quadratiques, ont été implantés dans le code par éléments finis ABAQUS pour l’analyse quasi-statique et dynamique des structures minces. La performance de ces éléments a été validée à travers une série de cas tests académiques, ainsi que sur des problèmes complexes de type impact/crash et des procédés de mise en forme de tôles minces. L'ensemble des résultats numériques obtenus révèle que les éléments SHB représentent une alternative intéressante aux éléments coques et solides traditionnels pour la modélisation tridimensionnelle des structures minces. / Nowadays, the finite element (FE) simulation provides great assistance to engineers in the design of products and optimization of manufacturing processes. Despite the growing development of computational resources, reliability and efficiency of the FE simulations remain the most important features. The current work contributes to the development of a family of assumed strain based solid-shell elements (SHB), for the modeling of 3D thin structures. Based on reduced integration and special treatments to eliminate locking effects and to control spurious zero-energy modes, the SHB solid‒shell elements are capable of modeling most thin 3D structural problems with only a single element layer, while describing accurately the various through-thickness phenomena. In the current contribution, a family of prismatic and hexahedral SHB elements with their linear and quadratic versions have been implemented into ABAQUS using both standard/quasi-static and explicit/dynamic solvers. The performance of the SHB elements is evaluated via a series of popular benchmarks as well as with impact/crash and sheet metal forming processes. All numerical results reveal that the SHB elements represent an interesting alternative to traditional shell and solid elements for the 3D modeling of thin structural problems.

Cette thèse s’intéresse au développement d’éléments finis solide–coques dédiés à la modélisation de structures multicouches sollicitées en vibrations. En effet, la plupart des modèles multicouches dans la littérature présentent des limitations dans certaines configurations géométriques et matérielles. Face à ce constat et dans un souci de proposer un outil moins coûteux en temps de calcul, nous avons proposé une approche basée sur le concept solide–coques. Il s’agit d’éléments finis tridimensionnels dont le comportement a été amélioré par l’Assumed Strain Method. Dans un premier temps, nous avons formulé le problème de vibrations de structures sandwichs à cœur viscoélastique. La dépendance en fréquence a ainsi été prise en compte en utilisant une loi constitutive complexe. Pour résoudre le problème discrétisé, la Méthode Asymptotique Numérique, couplée à l’homotopie, et utilisant l’approche DIAMANT, a été adoptée pour les excellents résultats qu’elle offre par rapport aux autres méthodes. Des tests ont permis de valider les modèles proposés et de montrer l’avantage par rapport aux éléments ayant la même cinématique. Poursuivant nos travaux, et dans un souci d’augmenter l’amortissement, nous nous sommes orientés vers un contrôle actif des vibrations. Pour ce faire, deux éléments finis piézoélectriques ont été formulés. Il s’agit des éléments SHB8PSE et SHB20E qui sont des extensions des éléments finis SHB8PS et SHB20, respectivement. Le couplage électromécanique a consisté en l’ajout d’un degré de liberté à chacun des nœuds des dits éléments. Quelques exemples en statique et en vibrations menés sur des structures multicouches allant de simples poutres aux structures présentant des non-linéarités géométriques ont permis de valider les éléments solide–coques proposés. Pour finir, une synthèse des acquis des chapitres 2 et 3 a permis de proposer une modélisation de structures multicouches comprenant des couches élastiques, viscoélastiques et piézoélectriques. À l’amortissement passif provenant du pouvoir amortissant des matériaux viscoélastiques, on ajoute un contrôle actif qui découle du courant électrique généré au cours de la déformation des couches piézoélectriques. Ainsi, un filtre a été installé entre les capteurs et actionneurs. Ce filtre permet d’amplifier ou d’atténuer le potentiel électrique généré dans le but de réduire les amplitudes de vibrations. Pour résoudre le problème résultant nous avons étendu le solveur utilisé au chapitre 2. Pour valider les modèles proposés, des tests de contrôle actif–passif ont été menés sur des structures plaques multicouches. Enfin, quelques lois de contrôle découlant de filtres ont permis de montrer comment cette procédure permet de réduire ou même d’éviter l’amplification des vibrations / This thesis deals with the development of solid–shell finite elements for vibration modeling of multilayer structures. Indeed, most of multilayer models in the literature show some limitations in certain geometric and material configurations. Considering these restrictions and in order to develop a more efficient calculation tool, we proposed an approach based on the solid–shell concept. This consists of three-dimensional finite elements enhanced through the Assumed Strain Method. First of all, we have formulated the problem of vibrations of sandwich structures with viscoelastic core. The frequency dependence has been taken into account by using a complex constitutive law. To solve the discretized problem, the Asymptotic Numerical Method, coupled with the homotopy technique and the DIAMANT toolbox approach, was adopted due to the excellent results it provides compared to other methods. Benchmark tests have validated the models and highlighted their advantages over existing elements having the same kinematics. In order to increase damping properties, we directed our attention towards an active vibration control. For this purpose, two piezoelectric finite elements have been developed. These finite elements SHB8PSE and SHB20E are extensions, of the elements SHB8PS and SHB20, respectively. The electromechanical coupling consisted in adding an electrical degree of freedom to each node of these elements. A variety of test problems both in static and vibration analysis conducted on multilayer structures ranging from simple beams to structures involving geometric nonlinearities allowed validating the proposed solid–shell elements. Finally, combining the achievements made in chapters 2 and 3, we proposed a modeling approach for multilayer structures composed of elastic, viscoelastic and piezoelectric layers. Active control is introduced using the piezoelectric properties in order to improve the reduction in vibration amplitudes. Thus, a filter has been mounted between the sensors and actuators. This filter allows amplifying or attenuating the generated electric potential in order to reduce the vibration amplitudes. To solve the resulting problem, we extended the resolution method used in chapter 2. To validate the proposed models, active–passive control tests have been conducted on multilayer plate structures. Finally, some control laws, associated with filters, have shown how this procedure can allow reducing or even avoiding amplification of vibrations