An Iterative Method for Shape Optimal Design of Stokes–Brinkman Equations with Heat Transfer Model

This work is concerned with the shape optimal design of an obstacle immersed in the Stokes–Brinkman fluid, which is also coupled with a thermal model in the bounded domain. The shape optimal problem is formulated and analyzed based on the framework of the continuous adjoint method, with the advantage that the computing cost of the gradients and sensitivities is independent of the number of design variables. Then, the velocity method is utilized to describe the domain deformation, and the Eulerian derivative for the cost functional is established by applying the differentiability of a minimax problem based on the function space parametrization technique. Moreover, an iterative algorithm is proposed to optimize the boundary of the obstacle in order to reduce the total dissipation energy. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our method.

Verification of Continuum Mechanics Predictions with Experimental Mechanics

The general goal of the study is to connect theoretical predictions of continuum mechanics with actual experimental observations that support these predictions. The representative volume element (RVE) bridges the theoretical concept of continuum with the actual discontinuous structure of matter. This paper presents an experimental verification of the RVE concept. Foundations of continuum kinematics as well as mathematical functions relating displacement vectorial fields to the recording of these fields by a light sensor in the form of gray-level scalar fields are reviewed. The Eulerian derivative field tensors are related to the deformation of the continuum: the Euler–Almansi tensor is extracted, and its properties are discussed. The compatibility between the Euler–Almansi tensor and the Cauchy stress tensor is analyzed. In order to verify the concept of the RVE, a multiscale analysis of an Al–SiC composite material is carried out. Furthermore, it is proven that the Euler–Almansi strain tensor and the Cauchy stress tensor are conjugate in the Hill–Mandel sense by solving an identification problem of the constitutive model of urethane rubber.