An edge-based smoothed finite element for buckling analysis of functionally graded material variable-thickness plates

The paper aims to extend the ES-MITC3 element, which is an integration of the edge-based smoothed finite element method (ES-FEM) with the mixed interpolation of tensorial components technique for the three-node triangular element (MITC3 element), for the buckling analysis of the FGM variable-thickness plates subjected to mechanical loads. The proposed ES-MITC3 element is performed to eliminate the shear locking phenomenon and to enhance the accuracy of the existing MITC3 element. In the ES-MITC3 element, the stiffness matrices are obtained by using the strain smoothing technique over the smoothing domains formed by two adjacent MITC3 triangular elements sharing the same edge. The numerical results demonstrated that the proposed method is reliable and more accurate than some other published solutions in the literature. The influences of some geometric parameters, material properties on the stability of FGM variable-thickness plates are examined in detail.

GPU-accelerated smoothed particle finite element method for large deformation analysis in geomechanics

Particle finite element method (PFEM) is an effective numerical tool for solving large-deformation problems in geomechanics. By incorporating the node integration technique with strain smoothing into the PFEM, we proposed the smoothed particle ?nite element method (SPFEM). This paper extends the SPFEM to three-dimensional cases and presents a SPFEM executed on graphics processing units (GPUs) to boost the computational efficiency. The detailed parallel computing strategy on GPU is introduced. New computation formulations related to the strain smoothing technique are proposed to save memory space in the GPU parallel computing. Several benchmark problems are solved to validate the proposed approach and to evaluate the GPU acceleration performance. Numerical examples show that with the new formulations not only the memory space can be saved but also the computational efficiency is improved. The computational cost is reduced by 70% for the double-precision GPU parallel computing with the new formulations.

Full-Field Strain Reconstruction Using Uniaxial Strain Measurements: Application to Damage Detection

This work investigates the inverse problem of reconstructing the continuous displacement field of a structure using a spatially distributed set of discrete uniaxial strain data. The proposed technique is based on the inverse Finite Element Method (iFEM), which has been demonstrated to be suitable for full-field displacement, and subsequently strain, reconstruction in beam and plate structures using discrete or continuous surface strain measurements. The iFEM uses a variationally based approach to displacement reconstruction, where an error functional is discretized using a set of finite elements. The effects of position and orientation of uniaxial strain measurements on the iFEM results are investigated, and the use of certain strain smoothing strategies for improving reconstruction accuracy is discussed. Reconstruction performance using uniaxial strain data is examined numerically using the problem of a thin plate with an internal crack. The results obtained highlight that strain field reconstruction using the proposed strategy can provide useful information regarding the presence, position, and orientation of damage on the plate.

An ES-MITC3 Finite Element Method Based on Higher-Order Shear Deformation Theory for Static and Free Vibration Analyses of FG Porous Plates Reinforced by GPLs

An edge-based smoothed finite element method (ES-FEM) combined with the mixed interpolation of tensorial components technique (MITC) for triangular elements, named as ES-MITC3, was recently proposed to enhance the accuracy of the original MITC3 for analysis of plates and shells. In this study, the ES-MITC3 is extended to the static and vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) porous plates reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs). In the ES-MITC3, the stiffness matrices are obtained by using the strain smoothing technique over the smoothing domains created by two adjacent triangular elements sharing an edge. The effective material properties are variable through the thickness of plates including Young’s modulus estimated via the Halpin–Tsai model and Poisson’s ratio and the mass density according to the rule of mixture. Three types of porosity distributions and GPL dispersion pattern into the metal matrix are examined. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the performance of the present approach in comparison with other existing methods. Furthermore, the effect of several parameters such as GPL weight fraction, porosity coefficient, porosity distribution, and GPL dispersion patterns on the static and free vibration responses of FG porous plates is discussed in detail.

A Modified Cell-Based Strain Smoothing for Material Nonlinearity

This work presents a linear smoothing scheme over high-order triangular elements in the framework of a cell-based strain smoothed finite element method for two-dimensional nonlinear problems. The main idea behind the proposed linear smoothing scheme for strain-smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) is no subdivision of finite element cells to sub-cells while the classical S-FEM needs sub-cells. Since the linear smoothing function is employed, S-FEM is able to use quadratic triangular or quadrilateral elements. The modified smoothed matrix obtained node-wise is evaluated. In the same manner with the computation of the strain-displacement matrix, the smoothed stiffness matrix and deformation graident are obtained over smoothing domains. A series of benchmark tests are investigated to demonstrate validity and stability of the proposed scheme. The validity and accuracy are confirmed by comparing the obtained numerical results with the standard FEM using 2nd-order triangular element and the exact solutions.

Static and Free Vibration Analyses of Functionally Graded Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Composite Plates using CS-DSG3

This study presents an extension of the cell-based smoothed discrete shear gap method (CS-DSG3) using three-node triangular elements for the static and free vibration analyses of carbon nanotube reinforced composite (CNTRC) plates. The single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are assumed to be uniformly distributed (UD) and functionally graded (FG) distributed along the thickness direction. The material properties of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates are estimated according to the rule of mixture. The governing equations are developed based on the first-order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT). In the CS-DSG3, each triangular element will be divided into three sub-triangles, and in each sub-triangle, the stabilized discrete shear gap method is used to compute the strains and to avoid the transverse shear locking. Then the strain smoothing technique on the whole triangular element is used to smooth the strains on these three sub-triangles. Effects of several parameters, such as the different distribution of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nanotube volume fraction, boundary condition and width-to-thickness ratio of plates are investigated. In addition, the effect of various orientation angles of CNTs is also examined in detail. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed method are verified by comparing its numerical solutions with those of other available results in the literature.

A Concept of Cell-Based Smoothed Finite Element Method Using 10-Node Tetrahedral Elements (CS-FEM-T10) for Large Deformation Problems of Nearly Incompressible Solids

A new concept of smoothed finite element method (S-FEM) using 10-node tetrahedral (T10) elements, CS-FEM-T10, is proposed. CS-FEM-T10 is a kind of cell-based S-FEM (CS-FEM) and thus it smooths the strain only within each T10 element. Unlike the other types of S-FEMs [node-based S-FEM (NS-FEM), edge-based S-FEM (ES-FEM), and face-based S-FEM (FS-FEM)], CS-FEM can be implemented in general finite element (FE) codes as a piece of the element library. Therefore, CS-FEM-T10 is also compatible with general FE codes as a T10 element. A concrete example of CS-FEM-T10 named SelectiveCS-FEM-T10 is introduced for large deformation problems of nearly incompressible solids. SelectiveCS-FEM-T10 subdivides each T10 element into 12 four-node tetrahedral (T4) subelements with an additional dummy node at the element center. Two types of strain smoothing are conducted for the deviatoric and hydrostatic stress evaluations and the selective reduced integration (SRI) technique is utilized for the stress integration. As a result, SelectiveCS-FEM-T10 avoids the shear/volumetric locking, pressure checkerboarding, and reaction force oscillation in nearly incompressible solids. In addition, SelectiveCS-FEM-T10 has a relatively long-lasting property in large deformation problems. A few examples of large deformation analyses of a hyperelastic material confirm the good accuracy and robustness of SelectiveCS-FEM-T10. Moreover, an implementation of SelectiveCS-FEM-T10 in the FE code ABAQUS as a user-defined element (UEL) is conducted and its capability is discussed.

Free Vibration Analysis of Functionally Graded Shells Using an Edge-Based Smoothed Finite Element Method

An edge-based smoothed finite element method (ES-FEM) combined with the mixed interpolation of tensorial components technique for triangular shell element (MITC3), called ES-MITC3, for free vibration analysis of functionally graded shells is investigated in this work. In the formulation of the ES-MITC3, the stiffness matrices are obtained by using the strain-smoothing technique over the smoothing domains that are formed by two adjacent MITC3 triangular shell elements sharing an edge. The strain-smoothing technique can improve significantly the accuracy and convergence of the original MITC3. The material properties of functionally graded shells are assumed to vary through the thickness direction by a power–rule distribution of volume fractions of the constituents. The numerical examples demonstrated that the present ES-MITC3method is free of shear locking and achieves the high accuracy compared to the reference solutions in the literature.