Structural Finite Elements With High-Order Basis Functions

Author(s):  
Chad D. Balch

Abstract In the p-version of the finite element method, convergence is achieved by increasing the polynomial order of the elements. This paper discusses high-order three-dimensional carved beam and shell elements which have been implemented in a general purpose p-version linear finite element code. The displacement and rotation fields are represented by polynomials up to ninth order. Beam axes are three-dimensional space curves, and shell midsurfaces are general doubly-curved surfaces. Results for linear static and modal analyses are presented. In particular, it is demonstrated that a relatively small number of elements provide highly accurate results for typical benchmark problems. The elements perform robustly, with no locking or spurious deformation modes.

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Koves ◽  
S. Nair

A specialized shell-intersection finite element, which is compatible with adjoining shell elements, has been developed and has the capability of physically representing the complex three-dimensional geometry and stress state at shell intersections (Koves, 1993). The element geometry is a contoured shape that matches a wide variety of practical nozzle configurations used in ASME Code pressure vessel construction, and allows computational rigor. A closed-form theory of elasticity solution was used to compute the stress state and strain energy in the element. The concept of an energy-equivalent nodal displacement and force vector set was then developed to allow complete compatibility with adjoining shell elements and retain the analytical rigor within the element. This methodology provides a powerful and robust computation scheme that maintains the computational efficiency of shell element solutions. The shell-intersection element was then applied to the cylinder-sphere and cylinder-cylinder intersection problems.


2012 ◽  
Vol 236-237 ◽  
pp. 632-635
Author(s):  
Yue Sun ◽  
Yue Nan Chen ◽  
Zhi Yun Wang

In two-dimensional space, an elasto-plastic finite element computational model was established to simulate inner support for excavation on the basis of the general-purpose finite element software ABAQUS. The soil was assumed to be a uniform and normally consolidated clay layer and strut was discreted by spring element. Compared with published case study, it can be concluded that FEM software AQAQUS can present one reliable simulation progress of inner support for excavation.


Author(s):  
Hossam S. Badawi ◽  
Sherif A. Mourad ◽  
Sayed M. Metwalli

Abstract For a Computer Aided Design of a concrete truck mixer, a six cubic meter concrete mixer drum is analyzed using the finite element method. The complex mixer drum structure is subjected to pressure loading resulting from the plain concrete inside the drum, in addition to its own weight. The effect of deceleration of the vehicle and the rotational motion of the drum on the reactions and stresses are also considered. Equivalent static loads are used to represent the dynamic loading effects. Three-dimensional shell elements are used to model the drum, and frame elements are used to represent a ring stiffener around the shell. Membrane forces and bending stresses are obtained for different loading conditions. Results are also compared with approximate analysis. The CAD procedure directly used the available drafting and the results were used effectively in the design of the concrete mixer drum.


Author(s):  
K. S. Narayana ◽  
R. T. Naik ◽  
R. C. Mouli ◽  
L. V. V. Gopala Rao ◽  
R. T. Babu Naik

The work presents the Finite element study of the effect of elliptical chords on the static and dynamic strength of tubular T-joints using ANSYS. Two different geometry configurations of the T-joints have been used, namely Type-1 and Type-2. An elastic analysis has been considered. The Static loading conditions used are: axial load, compressive load, In-plane bending (IPB) and Out-plane bending (OPB). The natural frequencies analysis (dynamic loading condition) has also been carried out. The geometry configurations of the T-joints have been used, vertical tubes are called brace and horizontal tubes are called chords. The joint consists of brace joined perpendicular to the circular chord. In this case the ends of the chord are held fixed. The material used is mild steel. Using ANSYS, finite element modeling and analysis of T-joint has been done under the aforementioned loading cases. It is one of the most powerful methods in use but in many cases it is an expensive analysis especially due to elastic–plastic and creep problems. Usually, three dimensional solid elements or shell elements or the combination of two types of elements are used for generating the tubular joints mesh. In tubular joints, usually the fluid induced vibrations cause the joint to fail under resonance. Therefore the natural frequencies analysis is also an important issue here. Generally the empirical results are required as guide or comparison tool for finite element investigation. It is an effective way to obtain confidence in the results derived. Shell elements have been used to model the assembled geometry. Finite element ANSYS results have been validated with the LUSAS FEA and experimental results, that is within the experimentation error limit of ten percentage.


Author(s):  
Guo Chao ◽  
Liu Yu ◽  
He Hangxing ◽  
Liu Luguo ◽  
Wang Xiaoyu ◽  
...  

To solve three-dimensional kinetics problems, a high order nodal expansion method for hexagonal-z geometry (HONEM) and a Runge-Kutta (RK) method are respectively adopted to deal with the spatial and temporal problem. In the HONEM, 1D partially-integrated flux are approximated by using four order polynomial. The two order polynomial is adopted to the approximation of partially-integrated leakages. The Runge-Kutta method is adopted as a tool for dispersing the time term of 3D kinetics equation. A flux weighting method (FWM) is used for obtaining homogenized cross sections of mix node. The three-dimensional hexagonal kinetics code has been developed based on this method and tested with two benchmark problems of VVER which are the control rod ejection without any feedback and with simple adiabatic Doppler feedback. The results calculated by this code agree well with the reference results and the code is validated.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1661-1683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Stapór

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to carry out a finite element simulation of a physically non-linear phase change problem in a two-dimensional space without adaptive remeshing or moving-mesh algorithms. The extended finite element method (XFEM) and the level set method (LSM) were used to capture the transient solution and motion of phase boundaries. It was crucial to consider the effects of unequal densities of the solid and liquid phases and the flow in the liquid region. Design/methodology/approach – The XFEM and the LSM are applied to solve non-linear transient problems with a phase change in a two-dimensional space. The model assumes thermo-dependent properties of the material and unequal densities of the phases; it also allows for convection in the liquid phase. A non-linear system of equations is derived and a numerical solution is proposed. The Newton-Raphson method is used to solve the problem and the LSM is applied to track the interface. Findings – The robustness and utility of the method are demonstrated on several two-dimensional benchmark problems. Originality/value – The novel procedure based on the XFEM and the LSM was developed to solve physically non-linear phase change problems with unequal densities of phases in a two-dimensional space.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1056-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Leng ◽  
Lili Ju ◽  
Max Gunzburger ◽  
Stephen Price

AbstractThis paper focuses on the development of an efficient, three-dimensional, thermo-mechanical, nonlinear-Stokes flow computational model for ice sheet simulation. The model is based on the parallel finite element model developed in [14] which features high-order accurate finite element discretizations on variable resolution grids. Here, we add an improved iterative solution method for treating the nonlinearity of the Stokes problem, a new high-order accurate finite element solver for the temperature equation, and a new conservative finite volume solver for handling mass conservation. The result is an accurate and efficient numerical model for thermo-mechanical glacier and ice-sheet simulations. We demonstrate the improved efficiency of the Stokes solver using the ISMIP-HOM Benchmark experiments and a realistic test case for the Greenland ice-sheet. We also apply our model to the EISMINT-II benchmark experiments and demonstrate stable thermo-mechanical ice sheet evolution on both structured and unstructured meshes. Notably, we find no evidence for the “cold spoke” instabilities observed for these same experiments when using finite difference, shallow-ice approximation models on structured grids.


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