Composite structures, such as laminated beams, plates and shells, are widely used in the automotive, aerospace and marine industries due to their superior specific strength and tailor-able mechanical properties. Because of their use in a wide range of applications, and their commonplace in the engineering design community, the need to accurately predict their behavior to external stimuli is crucial. We consider in this thesis the application of the least-squares finite element method (LSFEM) to problems of static deformations of laminated and sandwich plates and transient plane stress deformations of sandwich beams. Models are derived to express the governing equations of linear elasticity in terms of layer-wise continuous variables for composite plates and beams, which allow inter-laminar continuity conditions at layer interfaces to be satisfied. When Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto (LGL) basis functions with the LGL nodes taken as integration points are used to approximate the unknown field variables, the methodology yields a system of discrete equations with a symmetric positive definite coefficient matrix. The main goal of this research is to determine the efficacy of the LSFEM in accurately predicting stresses in laminated composites when subjected to both quasi-static and transient surface tractions. Convergence of the numerical algorithms with respect to the LGL basis functions in space and time (when applicable) is also considered and explored. In the transient analysis of sandwich beams, we study the sensitivity of the first failure load to the beam's aspect ratio (AR), facesheet-core thickness ratio (FCTR) and facesheet-core stiffness ratio (FCSR). We then explore how failure of sandwich beams is affected by considering facesheet and core materials with different in-plane and transverse stiffness ratios. Computed results are compared to available analytical solutions, published results and those found by using the commercial FE software ABAQUS where appropriate / Master of Science / Composite materials are formed by combining two or more materials on a macroscopic scale such that they have better engineering properties than either material individually. They are usually in the form of a laminate comprised of numerous plies with each ply having unidirectional fibers. Laminates are used in all sorts of engineering applications, ranging from boat hulls, racing car bodies and storage tanks. Unlike their homogeneous material counterparts, such as metals, laminated composites present structural designers and analysts a number of computational challenges. Chief among these challenges is the satisfaction of the so-called continuity conditions, which require certain quantities to be continuous at the interfaces of the composite's layers. In this thesis, we use a mathematical model, called a state-space model, that allows us to simultaneously solve for these quantities in the composite structure's domain and satisfy the continuity conditions at layer interfaces. To solve the governing equations that are derived from this model, we use a numerical technique called the least-squares method which seeks to minimize the squares of the governing equations and the associated side condition residuals over the computational domain. With this mathematical model and numerical method, we investigate static and dynamic deformations of laminated composites structures. The goal of this thesis is to determine the efficacy of the proposed methodology in predicting stresses in laminated composite structures when subjected to static and transient mechanical loading.

Anomale Diffusion ist ein weitverbreiteter Transportmechanismus, welcher für gewöhnlich mit ensemble-basierten Methoden experimentell untersucht wird. Motiviert durch den Fortschritt in der Einzelteilchenverfolgung, wo typischerweise Zeitmittelwerte bestimmt werden, entsteht die Frage nach der Ergodizität. Stimmen ensemble-gemittelte Größen und zeitgemittelte Größen überein, und wenn nicht, wie unterscheiden sie sich? In dieser Arbeit studieren wir verschiedene stochastische Modelle für anomale Diffusion bezüglich ihres ergodischen oder nicht-ergodischen Verhaltens hinsichtlich der mittleren quadratischen Verschiebung. Wir beginnen unsere Untersuchung mit integrierter Brownscher Bewegung, welche von großer Bedeutung für alle Systeme mit Impulsdiffusion ist. Für diesen Prozess stellen wir die ensemble-gemittelte quadratische Verschiebung und die zeitgemittelte quadratische Verschiebung gegenüber und charakterisieren insbesondere die Zufälligkeit letzterer. Im zweiten Teil bilden wir integrierte Brownsche Bewegung auf andere Modelle ab, um einen tieferen Einblick in den Ursprung des nicht-ergodischen Verhaltens zu bekommen. Dabei werden wir auf einen verallgemeinerten Lévy-Lauf geführt. Dieser offenbart interessante Phänomene, welche in der Literatur noch nicht beobachtet worden sind. Schließlich führen wir eine neue Größe für die Analyse anomaler Diffusionsprozesse ein, die Verteilung der verallgemeinerten Diffusivitäten, welche über die mittlere quadratische Verschiebung hinausgeht, und analysieren mit dieser ein oft verwendetes Modell der anomalen Diffusion, den subdiffusiven zeitkontinuierlichen Zufallslauf. / Anomalous diffusion is a widespread transport mechanism, which is usually experimentally investigated by ensemble-based methods. Motivated by the progress in single-particle tracking, where time averages are typically determined, the question of ergodicity arises. Do ensemble-averaged quantities and time-averaged quantities coincide, and if not, in what way do they differ? In this thesis, we study different stochastic models for anomalous diffusion with respect to their ergodic or nonergodic behavior concerning the mean-squared displacement. We start our study with integrated Brownian motion, which is of high importance for all systems showing momentum diffusion. For this process, we contrast the ensemble-averaged squared displacement with the time-averaged squared displacement and, in particular, characterize the randomness of the latter. In the second part, we map integrated Brownian motion to other models in order to get a deeper insight into the origin of the nonergodic behavior. In doing so, we are led to a generalized Lévy walk. The latter reveals interesting phenomena, which have never been observed in the literature before. Finally, we introduce a new tool for analyzing anomalous diffusion processes, the distribution of generalized diffusivities, which goes beyond the mean-squared displacement, and we analyze with this tool an often used model of anomalous diffusion, the subdiffusive continuous time random walk.

Anomale Diffusion ist ein weitverbreiteter Transportmechanismus, welcher für gewöhnlich mit ensemble-basierten Methoden experimentell untersucht wird. Motiviert durch den Fortschritt in der Einzelteilchenverfolgung, wo typischerweise Zeitmittelwerte bestimmt werden, entsteht die Frage nach der Ergodizität. Stimmen ensemble-gemittelte Größen und zeitgemittelte Größen überein, und wenn nicht, wie unterscheiden sie sich? In dieser Arbeit studieren wir verschiedene stochastische Modelle für anomale Diffusion bezüglich ihres ergodischen oder nicht-ergodischen Verhaltens hinsichtlich der mittleren quadratischen Verschiebung. Wir beginnen unsere Untersuchung mit integrierter Brownscher Bewegung, welche von großer Bedeutung für alle Systeme mit Impulsdiffusion ist. Für diesen Prozess stellen wir die ensemble-gemittelte quadratische Verschiebung und die zeitgemittelte quadratische Verschiebung gegenüber und charakterisieren insbesondere die Zufälligkeit letzterer. Im zweiten Teil bilden wir integrierte Brownsche Bewegung auf andere Modelle ab, um einen tieferen Einblick in den Ursprung des nicht-ergodischen Verhaltens zu bekommen. Dabei werden wir auf einen verallgemeinerten Lévy-Lauf geführt. Dieser offenbart interessante Phänomene, welche in der Literatur noch nicht beobachtet worden sind. Schließlich führen wir eine neue Größe für die Analyse anomaler Diffusionsprozesse ein, die Verteilung der verallgemeinerten Diffusivitäten, welche über die mittlere quadratische Verschiebung hinausgeht, und analysieren mit dieser ein oft verwendetes Modell der anomalen Diffusion, den subdiffusiven zeitkontinuierlichen Zufallslauf. / Anomalous diffusion is a widespread transport mechanism, which is usually experimentally investigated by ensemble-based methods. Motivated by the progress in single-particle tracking, where time averages are typically determined, the question of ergodicity arises. Do ensemble-averaged quantities and time-averaged quantities coincide, and if not, in what way do they differ? In this thesis, we study different stochastic models for anomalous diffusion with respect to their ergodic or nonergodic behavior concerning the mean-squared displacement. We start our study with integrated Brownian motion, which is of high importance for all systems showing momentum diffusion. For this process, we contrast the ensemble-averaged squared displacement with the time-averaged squared displacement and, in particular, characterize the randomness of the latter. In the second part, we map integrated Brownian motion to other models in order to get a deeper insight into the origin of the nonergodic behavior. In doing so, we are led to a generalized Lévy walk. The latter reveals interesting phenomena, which have never been observed in the literature before. Finally, we introduce a new tool for analyzing anomalous diffusion processes, the distribution of generalized diffusivities, which goes beyond the mean-squared displacement, and we analyze with this tool an often used model of anomalous diffusion, the subdiffusive continuous time random walk.