International Journal of Computational Methods

Modeling and simulation of the acoustic response in enclosed cavities of a diesel engine are of great significance for optimal design of an engine to achieve a better acoustic performance. Nevertheless, the use of the traditional finite element method (FEM) for the mid to high frequency acoustic prediction is limited by the well-known numerical dispersion errors and the tedious preprocessing of the model. Smoothed finite element methods (SFEMs) proposed originally for solid mechanics have been employed for the modeling of acoustic problems in the low to medium frequency ranges whilst acoustic modeling in the mid to high frequency range remains untouched. This paper comprehensively investigates into the performance of SFEMs in modeling and simulation of mid to high frequency acoustic problems. It is shown that the mass-redistributed edge-based smoothed finite element method (MR-ES-FEM) can yield an excellent prediction result in the mid to high frequency range in terms of accuracy, efficiency and robustness. The MR-ES-FEM is also used to simulate sound propagation in a cylinder head chamber of a four-cylinder diesel engine to prove its effectiveness. The findings presented in this paper offer an in-depth insight for engineers to select suitable numerical methods for solving mid to high frequency acoustic problems in the design of diesel engines.

This paper deals with portraying the stochastic natural frequencies of cantilever plates made up of functionally graded materials (FGMs) by employing the radial basis function (RBF)-based finite element (FE) approach. The material modeling of FGM plates is carried out by employing three different distribution laws, namely power law, sigmoid law, and exponential law. A generalized algorithm is developed for uncertainty quantification of natural frequencies of the FGM structures due to stochastic variation in the material properties and temperature. The deterministic FE code is validated with the previous literature, whereas convergence study is carried out in between stochastic results obtained from full scale direct Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) and MCS results obtained from RBF surrogate model of different sample sizes. The percentage of error present in the RBF model is also determined. The influence of crucial parameters such as distribution law, degree of stochasticity, power law index and temperature are determined for natural frequencies analysis of FGMs plates. The results illustrate the input parameters considered in the present study have significant effects on the first three stochastic natural frequencies of cantilever FGM plates.

In this paper, numerical improvements are implemented for solving for the pressure in the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method for free-surface flow simulations. The tensile instability problem is solved using a dynamic stabilization (DS) algorithm. The low numerical diffusion of this algorithm is shown through numerical tests. A free-surface treatment that includes an accurate free-surface particle detection algorithm and the implicit application of a free-surface boundary condition is used. The solution of the Navier–Stokes equation is improved using a particle shifting (PS) algorithm. The proposed MPS method for free-surface flow simulations is successfully applied in several benchmark tests and two- and three-dimensional dam break problems. The numerical simulation results agree well with the analytical and empirical ones. It is shown that the proposed MPS method effectively improves the stability and accuracy of simulations of free-surface flows.

A new penalization method is proposed for implementing the rigid bodies on the solution of the vorticity-stream function formulation of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The method is based upon an active transformation of dependent variables. The transformation may be interpreted as time dilation. In this interpretation, the rigid body is considered as a region where the time is dilated infinitely, that is, time is stopped. The transformation is introduced in the vorticity and stream function equations to achieve a set of modified equations. The, in the modified equations, the time dilation of the solid region is approached to infinity. The mathematical and physical properties of the modified equations are investigated and implementation of the no-slip and no-penetration conditions are justified. Moreover, a suitable numerical method is presented for the solution of the modified equations. In the proposed numerical method, time integration is performed via the Crank–Nicolson method, and the semi-discrete equations are spatially discretized via second-order finite differencing on a uniform Cartesian grid. The method is applied to the fluid flow around a square obstacle placed in a channel, a sudden flow perpendicular to a thin flat plate, and the flow around a circular cylinder. The accuracy of the numerical solutions is evaluated.

Lightweight of wheel hubs is the linchpin for reducing the unsprung mass and improving the vehicle dynamic and braking performance of vehicles, thus, sustaining stability and comfortability. Current experience-based lightweight designs of wheel hubs have been argued to render uneven distribution of materials. This work develops a novel method to combine the reverse modeling technique with the topological optimization method to derive lightweight wheel hubs based on the principles of mechanics. A reverse modeling technique is first adopted to scan and reproduce the prototype 3D geometry of the wheel hub with solid ribs. The finite element method (FEM) is then applied to perform stress analysis to identify the maximum stress and its location of wheel hub under variable potential physical conditions. The finite element model is then divided into optimization region and nonoptimized region: the former is the interior portion of spoke and the latter is the outer surface of the spoke. A topology optimization is then conducted to remove the optimization region which is interior material of the spokes. The hollow wheel hub is then reconstructed with constant wall thickness about 5mm via a reverse modeling technique. The results show that the reconstructed model can reduce the mass of 12.7% compared to the pre-optimized model. The present method of this paper can guarantee the optimal distribution of wheel hub material based on mechanics principle. It can be implemented automatically to shorten the time interval for optimal lightweight designs. It is especially preferable for many existing structures and components as it maintains the structural appearance of optimization object.

To investigate crack initiation and propagation of rock mass under coupled thermo-mechanical (TM) condition, a two-dimensional coupled TM model based on the numerical manifold method (NMM) is proposed, considering the effect of thermal damage on the rock physical properties and stress on the heat conductivity. Then, the NMM, using empirical strength criteria as the crack propagation critical criterion and physical cover as the minimum failure element, was extended for cracking process simulation. Furthermore, a high-order cover function was used to improve the calculation accuracy of stress. Therefore, the proposed method consists of three parts and has a high accuracy for simulating the cracking process in the rock mass under the coupled TM condition. The ability of the proposed model for high accuracy stress, crack propagation, and thermally-induced cracking simulation was verified by three examples. Finally, the proposed method was applied to simulate the stability of a hypothetical nuclear waste repository. Based on the outcome of this study, the application of NMM can be extended to study rock failure induced by multi-field coupling effect in geo-materials.

Consider the class of four point nonlinear BVPs

The pure boundary element method (BEM) is effective for the solution of a large class of problems. The main appeal of this BEM (reduction of the problem dimension by one) is tarnished to some extent when a fundamental solution to the governing equations does not exist as in the case of nonlinear problems. The easy to implement local point interpolation method applied to the strong form of differential equations is an attractive numerical approach. Its accuracy deteriorates in the presence of Neumann-type boundary conditions which are practically inevitable in solid mechanics. The main appeal of the BEM can be maintained by a judicious coupling of the pure BEM with the local point interpolation method. The resulting approach, named the LPI-BEM, seems versatile and effective. This is demonstrated by considering some linear and nonlinear elasticity problems including multi-physics and multi-field problems.

In the past, contact model in the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) does not include the influence of the tangential contact interaction, and the deficient model associated with the contact force can seriously degrade the computing accuracy. In order to overcome this defect, an improved FDEM is developed in this work. The potential contact mechanism is implemented to calculate the normal contact force; meanwhile, the force-displacement law by coupling the classical Mohr–Coulomb type frictional algorithm and the rotation transformation algorithm is applied for the accurate computation of the tangential contact force. Consequently, a holonomic system of the calculation algorithm for the contact interaction is proposed, accounting for the influence of the tangential contact force. The performance of the approach is validated with well-known benchmarks including a frictional numerical test, the dynamic response of the block under the seismic excitation, a sliding/toppling test of a joint rock slope, a numerical simulation for joints structure affecting a sliding rock mass and the 2008 Donghekou Landslide trigged by the Wenchuan Earthquake. The results are compared against the experimental data and analytical solutions. Excellent agreements between the computational result and existing measurements show that the proposed approach has an outstanding ability to describe the complex mechanical properties among the separate entities.

An inverse analysis technique based on the conjugate gradient method (CGM) and the discrepancy principle is employed to estimate the time-wise variation of the unknown cooling heat flux in the spray cooling of a hot surface. In contrast to previous studies, the heat conduction equation of the cooled surface is formulated using a dual-phase-lag (DPL) model. In addition, no assumptions are made regarding the functional form of the cooling heat flux. The simulation data required to conduct the inverse analysis are generated by adding random errors to the calculated exact temperatures at the boundaries and interior of the hot body. The validity of the inverse solutions is demonstrated numerically by means of two illustrative examples. Moreover, the sensitivity of the estimation results to the measurement error and measurement location is systematically explored. Overall, the results show that the proposed method provides a robust and accurate approach for estimating the unknown time-dependent cooling heat flux in typical industrial spray cooling applications.

The main purpose of this work is to provide a numerical approach for linear second-order differential and integro-differential equations with constant delay. An algorithm based on the use of Taylor polynomials is developed to construct a collocation solution $u\in S_m^{(1)}({\mathrm{\Pi }}_N)$ for approximating the solution of second-order linear DDEs and DIDEs. It is shown that this algorithm is convergent. Some numerical examples are included to demonstrate the validity of this algorithm.

As is known to all, there always exists the numerical dispersive effects of the standard finite element (FE) for the wave propagation problems and the corresponding FE solutions are usually unreliable in relatively high frequency range. In this work, a coupled “FE-Meshfree” element based on triangular mesh is introduced to reduce the dispersion effects for wave propagation problems. In this coupled element, the standard FE nodal shape functions are combined with the meshfree nodal shape functions to give a new hybrid nodal shape functions. As a result, both the individual advantages of the FE technique and the meshfree technique are strengthened by the present hybrid method. Through the dispersion analysis for the wave propagation problems, it is found that this coupled “FE-Meshfree” element could significantly reduce the numerical dispersive effects and it also have a higher tolerance to the mesh distortion than the other existing elements, hence the present method is quite promising to handle the general wave propagation problems in practical engineering application.

Enlightened by the Caputo fractional derivative, this study deals with a novel mathematical model of generalized thermoelasticity to investigate the transient phenomena due to the influence of magnetic field and moving heat source in a rod in the context of dual-phase lag (DPL) theory of thermoelasticity based on Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity. Both ends of the rod are fixed and heat insulated. Employing Laplace transform as a tool, the problem has been transformed into the space domain and solved analytically. Finally, solutions in the real-time domain are obtained by applying the inverse Laplace transform. Numerical calculation for temperature, displacement and stress within the rod is carried out and displayed graphically. The effect of moving heat source speed, time instance, memory-dependent derivative, magnetic-field and nonlocality on temperature, displacement and stress are studied.

In this paper, a canonical transformation is proposed to solve the eigenvalue problem related to the dynamics of rotor-bearing systems. In this problem, all matrices are real, but they may not be symmetric, which leads to the appearance of complex eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The bi-iteration method is selected to solve the original eigenproblem whereas the QR algorithm is adopted to solve the reduced or projected problem. A new canonical transformation of the global eigenproblem which reduces the quadratic eigenproblem to a linear eigenproblem, maintaining numerical stability since all that is required is that the stiffness matrix is well-conditioned, which is always true when it comes to applications in dynamic problems. The proposed technique is good for obtaining dominant eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors of real nonsymmetric matrices and it possesses the following properties: (i) the matrix is not transformed, therefore sparsity is maintained, (ii) partial eigensolutions can be obtained and (iii) use may be made of good eigenvectors predictions.

Integration algorithm is a key to ensure the better application of the dynamic constitutive model. As for the bounding surface model based on swell–shrink rules in this paper, an explicit integration algorithm based on sub-stepping and error control scheme has be described in detail. For being adaptable to the constitutive model, several modifications have been made. The modified explicit algorithm includes two procedures: the first procedure is the second-order forward modified Euler scheme with sub-stepping and error control; the second procedure is the stress correction. However, due to the shrink rule of the bounding surface, the second procedure is not needed at the unloading phase. Finally, several numerical simulations have been conducted for assessing the performance of the explicit algorithm, which demonstrates that the corresponding algorithm is stable and accurate, and can simulate the mechanical characteristics of the clay pretty well.

Abrasive waterjet is widely used for mass-cutting during coal mining or other mining process. Such a cutting process involves complex fluid–solid coupling, which require an effective method capable of simulating the large deformation and spalling of materials. This paper uses method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to establish a model to simulate the cutting process of coal seams by abrasive waterjets. In our SPH model, both fluid and solid are discretized with SPH particles. These particles are different in physical properties representing waterjet, abrasive particles and target materials. The waterjet is treated as viscous fluid and the coal (as a target material) is modeled as a brittle solid material. All these SPH particles of various medium are governed by the Navier–Stokes (NS) equations. Our established SPH model is then applied to study the efficiency of coal cutting using different waterjet formations. The results show that the cutting efficiency of the abrasive waterjet is higher than that of the standard waterjet. Our SPH model is capable of reveal the detailed interactions of the micro waterjet abrasive particles with the particles on the surface of coal. It enables the study on the mechanisms of coal seam breaking and cutting processes. It provides an effective computational tool for improving the efficiency of coal mining and of the development of new techniques for coal mining.

A robust discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method is proposed for elasticity problems with interfaces, where the continuity across the interfaces is weakly enforced by using Nitsche’s method. We employ a weighting for the interfacial consistency terms arising in the Nitsche variational form and present a detailed finite element formulation of this DG method. The stabilization parameter is evaluated by solving element level generalized eigenvalue problem for higher-order elements. Consequently, we give the choice of the weighting parameter that results in an estimate for the stabilization parameter such that the method remains well behaved in the pathological cases. The accuracy and robustness of the proposed method are then demonstrated through several numerical examples.

We propose an efficient Eulerian approach to compute the Lagrangian-averaged vorticity deviation (LAVD) of given flow fields. Traditional approaches need to solve $d+1$ ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for a $d$-dimensional flow. Furthermore, if the velocity data are discrete, interpolation is required to obtain the velocity and vorticity data along the particle trace of any sampling point, which could be quite time-consuming and even affect the accuracy of the solutions. In contrast, our proposed Eulerian approach only needs to solve one single partial differential equation (PDE) in order to obtain the LAVD field and no interpolation is required. Based on the doubling technique, we also propose an efficient iterative Eulerian-type algorithm to compute the long-time LAVD for periodic flows. After that, relation between the long-time LAVD and the coherent ergodic partition is briefly discussed. Numerical examples will show the accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed Eulerian approaches.