Journal of Multiscale Modelling

Probabilistic methods are used in engineering where a computational model contains random variables. Each random variable in the probabilistic calculations contains uncertainties. Typical sources of uncertainties are properties of the material and production and/or assembly inaccuracies in the geometry or the environment where the structure should be located. The paper is focused on methods for the calculations of failure probabilities in structural failure and reliability analysis with special attention on newly developed probabilistic method: Direct Optimized Probabilistic Calculation (DOProC), which is highly efficient in terms of calculation time and the accuracy of the solution. The novelty of the proposed method lies in an optimized numerical integration that does not require any simulation technique. The algorithm has been implemented in mentioned software applications, and has been used several times in probabilistic tasks and probabilistic reliability assessments.

The head penetration nozzle of control rod driving mechanism (CRDM) is known to be susceptible to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) due to the welding-induced residual stress. Especially, the J-groove dissimilar metal weld regions have received many attentions in the previous studies. However, even though several advanced techniques such as weight function and finite element alternating methods have been introduced to predict the occurrence of PWSCC, there are still difficulties in respect of applicability and efficiency. In this study, the extended finite element method (XFEM), which allows convenient crack element modeling by enriching degree of freedom (DOF) with special displacement function, was employed to evaluate structural integrity of the CRDM head penetration nozzle. The resulting stress intensity factors of surface cracks were verified for the reliability of proposed method through the comparison with those suggested in the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) code. The detailed results from the FE analyses are fully discussed in the manuscript.

This paper illustrates a multiple length/time-scale framework for the virtual testing of large composite structures. Such framework hinges upon a Mesh Superposition Technique (MST) for the coupling between areas of the structure modelled at different length-scales and upon an efficient solid-to-shell numerical homogenization which exploits the internal symmetries of Unit Cells (UCs). Using this framework, it is possible to minimize the areas of the structure modelled at the lowest- (and computationally demanding) scales and the computational cost required to calculate the homogenised to be used in the higher-scales subdomains of multiscale FE models, as well as to simulate the mechanical response of different parts of the structure using different solvers, depending on where they are expected to provide the most computationally efficient solution. The relevance and key-aspects of the multiple length/time-scale framework are demonstrated through the analysis of a real-sized aeronautical composite component.

Application of meshfree Galerkin method to homogenization and Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) analysis of plain woven composites is presented. Three types of meshfree formulations are developed and include: radial basis function, moving least squares and moving Kriging.

Three benchmark examples are used to demonstrated the efficiency of the meshfree formulation as well as compare the performance of the three shape functions. Non-linear stress–strain relationhip of unit cellusing the three shape functions are assessed with two benchmark examples of CDM model.