No description available.

No description available.

We present an a-posteriori method for computing rigorous upper and lower bounds of the J-integral in two dimensional linear elasticity. The J-integral, which is typically expressed as a contour integral, is recast as a surface integral which yields a quadratic continuous functional of the displacement. By expanding the quadratic output about an approximate finite element solution, the output is expressed as a known computable quantity plus linear and quadratic functionals of the solution error. The quadratic component is bounded by the energy norm of the error scaled by a continuity constant, which is determined explicitly. The linear component is expressed as an inner product of the errors in the displacement and in a computed adjoint solution, and bounded using standard a-posteriori error estimation techniques. The method is illustrated with two fracture problems in plane strain elasticity. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

We use the semi-inverse method to solve a St. Venant and an Almansi-Michell problem for a prismatic body made of a homogeneous and isotropic elastic material that is stress free in the reference configuration. In the St. Venant problem, only the end faces of the prismatic body are loaded by a set of self-equilibrated forces. In the Almansi-Michell problem self equilibrated surface tractions are also applied on the mantle of the body. The St. Venant problem is also analyzed for the following two cases: (i) the reference configuration is subjected to a hydrostatic pressure, and (ii) stress-strain relations contain terms that are quadratic in displacement gradients. The Signorini method is also used to analyze the St. Venant problem. Both for the St. Venant and the Almansi-Michell problems, the solution of the three dimensional problem is reduced to that of solving a sequence of two dimensional problems. For the St. Venant problem involving a second-order elastic material, the first order deformation is assumed to be an infinitesimal twist. In the solution of the Almansi-Michell problem, surface tractions on the mantle of the cylindrical body are expressed as a polynomial in the axial coordinate. When solving the problem by the semi-inverse method, displacements are also expressed as a polynomial in the axial coordinate. An explicit solution is obtained for a hollow circular cylindrical body with surface tractions on the mantle given by an affine function of the axial coordinate / Master of Science

No description available.

This is a documentation of the software package COCOS. The purpose of COCOS is the computation of corner singularities of elliptic equations in polyhedral corners and crack tips. COCOS provides a self-contained library for the generation of structured 2D finite element meshes, including various routines for mesh manipulation, as well as several algorithms for the solution of quadratic eigenvalue problems with Hamiltonian structure. These and further features will be described in this documentation.

We introduce to computer graphics the Pseudo-Rigid-Body Mechanism (PRBM) and the chain algorithm from mechanical engineering, with a unified tutorial from disparate source materials. The PRBM has been used successfully to simplify the simulation of non-linearly elastic beams, using deflections of an analogous spring and rigid-body linkage. It offers computational efficiency as well as an automatic parameterization in terms of physically measurable, intuitive inputs which fit naturally into existing animation work flows for character articulation. The chain algorithm is a technique for simulating the deflection of complicated elastic bodies in terms of straight elastic elements, which has recently been extended to incorporate PRBM beam-elements in three dimensions. We present a new, mathematically equivalent optimization of the 3D PRBM chain algorithm, from its former asymptotic complexity of O(n^2) in the number of elements n, to O(n). We also extend an existing PRBM for combined moment-force loads to 3D, where the existing 3D PRBM chain algorithm was limited to 3D PRBM elements for a moment-only load. This optimization and extension are validated by duplicating prior experimental results, but substituting the new optimization and combined-load elements. Finally, a loose road-map is provided with several key considerations for future extension of the techniques to dynamic simulations.

Some equations of linear elasticity are developed, including those specific to certain actuator structures considered in formation theory. The invariance of the strain-energy under the transformation from rectangular to spherical coordinates is then established for use in two specific formation problems. The first problem, involving an elastic structure with a cylindrical equilibrium configuration, is formulated in two dimensions using polar coordinates. It is shown that L² controls suffice to obtain boundary displacements in H^1/2. The second problem has a spherical equilibrium configuration and utilizes the elastic equations in spherical coordinates. Results similar to those obtained in the two dimensional case are indicated for the three dimensional problem. / Ph. D.

Les méthodes classiques de résolution des équations de l'élasticité linéaire sont les méthodes éléments finis. Ces méthodes produisent de très bons résultats et sont très largement analysées mathématiquement pour l'étude des déformations solides. Pour des problèmes de couplage solide/fluide, pour des situations réalistes en présence de discontinuités (modélisation des fronts de gel dans les sols humides), ou bien encore pour des domaines de calcul mieux adaptés aux maillages non conformes, il parait intéressant de disposer de solveurs Volumes Finis. Les méthodes Volumes Finis sont très largement utilisées en mécanique des fluides. Appliquées aux problèmes de convection, elles sont bien adaptées à la capture de solutions présentant des discontinuités et ne nécessitent pas de maillages conformes. De plus, elles présentent l'avantage de conserver au niveau discret les flux à travers les interfaces du maillage. C'est pourquoi sont développées et testées, dans cette thèse, plusieurs méthodes de volumes finis, qui permettent de traiter le problème de l'élasticité. On a, dans un premier temps, mis en œuvre la méthode LSGR (Least Squares Gradient Reconstruction), qui reconstruit des gradients par volumes à partir d'une formule de moindres carrés pondérés sur les volumes voisins. Elle est testée pour des maillages tétraédriques non structurés, et montre un ordre 1 de convergence. La méthode des Volumes Finis mixtes est ensuite présentée, basée sur la conservation d'un flux "pénalisé" à travers les interfaces. Cette pénalisation impose une contrainte sur le type de maillage utilisé, et des tests sont réalisés en 2d avec des maillages structurés et non structurés de quadrangles. On étend ensuite la méthode des Volumes Finis diamants à l'élasticité. Cette méthode détermine un gradient discret sur des sous volumes associés aux interfaces à partir de l'interpolation de la solution aux sommets du maillage. La convergence théorique est prouvée sous réserve de vérifier une condition de coercivité. Les résultats numériques, en 2d pour des maillages non structurés, conduisent à un ordre de convergence meilleur que celui prouvé. Enfin, la méthode DDFV (Discrete Duality Finite Volume), qui est une extension de la méthode Diamant, est présentée. Elle est basée sur une correspondance entre plusieurs maillages afin d'y construire des opérateurs discrets en "dualité discrète". On montre que la méthode est convergente d'ordre 1. Les illustrations numériques, réalisées en 2d et en 3d pour des maillages non structurés, montrent une convergence d'ordre 2, ce qui est fréquemment observé pour cette méthode. / Finite element methods are conventionally used for solving linear elasticity equations. These methods produce very good results and are widely analyzed from a mathematical point of view to study solid deformations. It seems interesting to have Finite Volume solvers for coupled solid/fluid problems, realistic situations in presence of discontinuities (freezing fronts modeling in wet soils), or even to compute fields better suited to non-conforming meshes. Finite Volume methods are widely used in fluid mechanics. Applied to convection problems, they are well suited to compute solutions with discontinuities and do not require mesh conformity. Moreover, they have the advantage of preserving discrete flows across the interfaces of the mesh. Therefore, we develop and test in this thesis several finite volume methods for solving the elasticity problem. First of all, we implement the LSGR method (Least Squares Gradient Reconstruction), which reconstructs gradients by volume from a weighted least squares formula on neighboring volumes. This method has been successfully tested for unstructured tetrahedral meshes, and shows a first-order convergence rate. Then, we present the Mixed Finite Volume method, based on the conservation of a "penalized" flow across the interfaces. The penalty term imposes a constraint on the type of meshes, and numerical tests are performed in 2D with structured and unstructured quadrangles. Afterwards, we extend the diamond-cell Finite Volume method to the elasticity. This method computes a discrete gradient on sub-volumes related to the interfaces from the interpolation of the solution at vertices. The theoretical convergence is proved under a coercivity condition. The numerical results, achieved in 2d for unstructured meshes, give a second-order convergence rate. Finally, we present the DDFV method (Discrete Duality Finite Volume), which is an extension of the precedent one. This method is based on a correspondence between several meshes in order to construct discrete operators on "discrete duality". We show that the DDFV scheme is a first-order convergent method. The 2d and 3d numerical tests on unstructured meshes show a second-order convergence rate, which is a classical result for this method.

The tangential contact stiffness for ground Ti-6Al-4V surfaces is measured to linearly decrease with the application of tangential load. At the beginning of the application of tangential load, for ground surfaces, the ratio of the tangential contact stiffness to the normal contact stiffness is seen to be approximately half the Mindlin ratio. This is consistent with many other published experimental studies. Measurements of normal contact stiffness for ground surfaces conform to a model that posits a linear relationship between normal contact stiffness and normal load. An equivalent surface roughness parameter is defined for two surfaces in contact; and the normal contact stiffness for ground surfaces is observed to be inversely proportional to this parameter. Single asperity models were constructed to simulate the effect of different frictional laws and plasticity on the tangential displacement of an asperity contact. Further, multi-asperity modelling showed the effect of different normal load distributions on the tangential behaviour of interfaces. In addition, normal contact stiffness was modelled for a grid of asperities taking into account asperity interactions. A receding contact problem for which the required form of the distributed dislocations is bounded-bounded was solved. Then, a fundamental 2D frictional receding contact problem involving a homogeneous linear elastic infinite layer pressed by a line load onto a half-plane of the same material was analysed. This was done by the insertion of preformed distributed dislocations (or eigenstrains), which take into account the correct form of the separation of the interface at points away from the area of loading, along with corrective bounded-bounded distributions. The general method of solution was further refined and adapted to solve three other receding contact problems. The solutions demonstrated the robustness and applicability of this new procedure.