arXiv subjects

Sundararajan Natarajan

Publications and source records attributed to Sundararajan Natarajan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

An Abaqus UEL implementation of the smoothed finite element method

In this paper, we discuss the implementation of a cell based smoothed finite element method (CSFEM) within the commercial finite element software Abaqus. The salient feature of the CSFEM is that it does not require an explicit form of the derivative of the shape functions and there is no isoparametric mapping. This implementation is accomplished by employing the user element subroutine (UEL) feature of the software. The details on the input data format together with the proposed user element subroutine, which forms the core of the finite element analysis are given. A few benchmark problems from linear elastostatics in both two and three dimensions are solved to validate the proposed implementation. The developed UELs and the associated input files can be downloaded from Github repository link: https://github.com/nsundar/SFEM\_in\_Abaqus.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

A new one point quadrature rule over arbitrary star convex polygon/polyhedron

The Linear Smoothing (LS) scheme \cite{francisa.ortiz-bernardin2017} ameliorates linear and quadratic approximations over convex polytopes by employing a three-point integration scheme. In this work, we propose a linearly consistent one point integration scheme which possesses the properties of the LS scheme with three integration points but requires one third of the integration computational time. The essence of the proposed technique is to approximate the strain by the smoothed nodal derivatives that are determined by the discrete form of the divergence theorem. This is done by the Taylor's expansion of the weak form which facilitates the evaluation of the smoothed nodal derivatives acting as stabilization terms. The smoothed nodal derivatives are evaluated only at the centroid of each integration cell. These integration cells are the simplex subcells (triangle/tetrahedron in two and three dimensions) obtained by subdividing the polytope. The salient feature of the proposed technique is that it requires only $n$ integrations for an $n-$ sided polytope as opposed to $3n$ in~\cite{francisa.ortiz-bernardin2017} and $13n$ integration points in the conventional approach. The convergence properties, the accuracy, and the efficacy of the LS with one point integration scheme are discussed by solving few benchmark problems in elastostatics.

math.NA↗

arXiv2014

On the equivalence between the cell-based smoothed finite element method and the virtual element method

We revisit the cell-based smoothed finite element method (SFEM) for quadrilateral elements and extend it to arbitrary polygons and polyhedrons in 2D and 3D, respectively. We highlight the similarity between the SFEM and the virtual element method (VEM). Based on the VEM, we propose a new stabilization approach to the SFEM when applied to arbitrary polygons and polyhedrons. The accuracy and the convergence properties of the SFEM are studied with a few benchmark problems in 2D and 3D linear elasticity. Later, the SFEM is combined with the scaled boundary finite element method to problems involving singularity within the framework of the linear elastic fracture mechanics in 2D.

math.NA↗

arXiv2014

Assessment of certain higher-order structural models based on global approach for bending analysis of curvilinear composite laminates

In this paper, the performance of different structural models based on global approach in evaluating the static response of curvilinear fibre composite laminates is analyzed. A Co shear flexible Quad-8 element developed based on higher-order structural theory is employed for the present study. The structural theory accounting for the realistic variation of displacements through the thickness and the possible discontinuity in the slope at the interface is considered. Four alternate discrete structural models, deduced from the generic structural model by retaining various terms in the displacement functions are examined for their applicability. The accuracy of the present formulation is demonstrated considering the problems for which analytical solutions are available. A systematic numerical study, assuming different ply-angle and lay-up, is conducted in bringing out the influence of various structural models on the static response of composite laminates with curvilinear fibres.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Free vibration and mechanical buckling of plates with in-plane material inhomogeneity - a three dimensional consistent approach

In this article, we study the free vibration and the mechanical buckling of plates using a three dimensional consistent approach based on the scaled boundary finite element method. The in-plane dimensions of the plate are modeled by two-dimensional higher order spectral element. The solution through the thickness is expressed analytically with Pade expansion. The stiffness matrix is derived directly from the three dimensional solutions and by employing the spectral element, a diagonal mass matrix is obtained. The formulation does not require ad hoc shear correction factors and no numerical locking arises. The material properties are assumed to be temperature independent and graded only in the in-plane direction by a simple power law. The effective material properties are estimated using the rule of mixtures. The influence of the material gradient index, the boundary conditions and the geometry of the plate on the fundamental frequencies and critical buckling load are numerically investigated.

math.NA↗

arXiv2014

Numerical evaluation of stress intensity factors and T-stress for interfacial cracks and cracks terminating at the interface without asymptotic enrichment

In this paper, we extend the recently proposed extended scaled boundary finite element method (xSBFEM)~\cite{natarajansong2013} to study fracture parameters of interfacial cracks and cracks terminating at the interface. The approach is also applied to crack growth along the interface and crack deflecting into the material within the context of linear elastic fracture mechanics. Apart from the stress intensity factors, the T-stress can be computed directly from the definitions, without any requirement of path independent integrals. The method aims at improving the capability of the extended finite element method in treating crack tip singularities of cracks at interfaces. An optimum size of the scaled boundary region is presented for multimaterial junctions. The proposed method: (1) does not require special numerical integration technique; (2) does not require a priori knowledge of the asymptotic fields and (3) the stiffness of the region containing the crack tip is computed directly. The robustness of the proposed approach is demonstrated with a few examples in the context of linear elastic fracture mechanics. A discussion on the crack growth along the interface and crack deflecting into the material is also presented.

math.NA↗

arXiv2014

A hybrid T-Trefftz polygonal finite element for linear elasticity

In this paper, we construct hybrid T-Trefftz polygonal finite elements. The displacement field within the polygon is repre- sented by the homogeneous solution to the governing differential equation, also called as the T-complete set. On the boundary of the polygon, a conforming displacement field is independently defined to enforce continuity of the displacements across the element boundary. An optimal number of T-complete functions are chosen based on the number of nodes of the polygon and degrees of freedom per node. The stiffness matrix is computed by the hybrid formulation with auxiliary displacement frame. Results from the numerical studies presented for a few benchmark problems in the context of linear elasticity shows that the proposed method yield highly accurate results.

math.NA↗

arXiv2014

Application of higher-order structural theory to bending and free vibration analysis of sandwich plates with CNT reinforced composite facesheets

In this paper, the bending and free flexural vibration behaviour of sandwich plates with carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced facesheets are investigated using QUAD-8 shear flexible element developed based on higher-order structural theory. This theory accounts for the realistic variation of the displacements through the thickness, and the possible discontinuity in slope at the interface, and the thickness stretch affecting the transverse deflection. The in-plane and rotary inertia terms are considered in the formulation. The governing equations obtained using Lagrange's equation of motions are solved for static and dynamic analyses considering a sandwich plate with homogeneous core and CNT reinforced face sheets. The accuracy of the present formulation is tested considering the problems for which solutions are available. A detailed numerical study is carried out based on various higher-order models deduced from the present theory to examine the influence of the volume fraction of the CNT, core-to-face sheet thickness and the plate thickness ratio on the global/local response of different sandwich plates.

math.NA↗

arXiv2014

Towards Automatic Stress Analysis using Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method with Quadtree Mesh of High-order Elements

This paper presents a technique for stress and fracture analysis by using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) with quadtree mesh of high-order elements. The cells of the quadtree mesh are modelled as scaled boundary polygons that can have any number of edges, be of any high orders and represent the stress singularity around a crack tip accurately without asymptotic enrichment or other special techniques. Owing to these features, a simple and automatic meshing algorithm is devised. No special treatment is required for the hanging nodes and no displacement incompatibility occurs. Curved boundaries and cracks are modelled without excessive local refinement. Five numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the simplicity and applicability of the proposed technique.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Smoothed Finite Element and Genetic Algorithm based optimization for Shape Adaptive Composite Marine Propellers

An optimization scheme using the Cell-based Smoothed Finite Element Method (CS-FEM) combined with a Genetic Algorithm (GA) framework is proposed in this paper to design shape adaptive laminated composite marine propellers. The proposed scheme utilise the bend-twist coupling characteristics of the composites to achieve the required performance. An iterative procedure to evaluate the unloaded shape of the propeller blade is proposed, confirming the manufacturing requirements at the initial stage. The optimization algorithm and codes developed in this work were implemented under a variety of parameter settings and compared against the requirement to achieve an ideally passive pitch varying propeller. Recommendations for the required thickness of the propeller blade to achieve optimum bend-twist coupling performance without resulting large rake deformations are also presented.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Finite element computations on quadtree meshes: strain smoothing and semi-analytical formulation

This short communication discusses two alternate techniques to treat hanging nodes in a quadtree mesh. Both the techniques share similarities, in that, they require only boundary information. Moreover, they do not require an explicit form of the shape functions, unlike the conventional approaches, for example, as in the work of Gupta \cite{gupta1978} or Tabarraei and Sukumar \cite{tabarraeisukumar2005}. Hence, no special numerical integration technique is required. One of the techniques relies on the strain projection procedure, whilst the other is based on the scaled boundary finite element method. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and the convergence properties of the two techniques.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Displacement based finite element formulations over polygons: a comparison between Laplace interpolants, strain smoothing and scaled boundary polygon formulation

Three different displacement based finite element formulations over arbitrary polygons are studied in this paper. The formulations considered are: the conventional polygonal finite element method (FEM) with Laplace interpolants, the cell-based smoothed polygonal FEM with simple averaging technique and the scaled boundary polygon formulation. For the purpose of numerical integration, we employ the sub-traingulation for the polygonal FEM and classical Gaussian quadrature for the smoothed FEM and for the scaled boundary polygon formulation. The accuracy and the convergence properties of these formulations are studied with a few benchmark problems in the context of linear elasticity and the linear elastic fracture mechanics. The extension of scaled boundary polygon to higher order polygons is also discussed.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Hygrothermal effects on free vibration and buckling of laminated composites with cutouts

The effect of moisture concentration and the thermal gradient on the free flexural vibration and buckling of laminated composite plates are investigated. The effect of a centrally located cutout on the global response is also studied. The analysis is carried out within the framework of the extended finite element method. A Heaviside function is used to capture the jump in the displacement and an enriched shear flexible 4-noded quadrilateral element is used for the spatial discretization. The formulation takes into account the transverse shear deformation and accounts for the lamina material properties at elevated moisture concentrations and temperature. The influence of the plate geometry, the geometry of the cutout, the moisture concentration, the thermal gradient and the boundary conditions on the free flexural vibration is numerically studied.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Linear flutter analysis of functionally graded panels using cell based smoothed finite element method and discrete shear gap technique

In this paper, a cell-based smoothed finite element method with discrete shear gap technique for triangular ele- ments is employed to study the linear flutter characteristics of functionally graded material (FGM) flat panels. The influence of thermal environment, the presence of a centrally located circular cutout and the aerodynamic damping on the supersonic flutter characteristics of flat FGM panels is also investigated. The structural for- mulation is based on the first-order shear deformation theory and the material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded only in the thickness direction according to power law distribution in terms of the volume fraction of its constituent materials. The aerodynamic force is evaluated by considering the first order high mach number approximation to linear potential flow theory. The formulation includes transverse shear deformation and in-plane and rotary inertia effects. The influence of the plate thickness, aspect ratio, boundary conditions, material gradient index, temperature dependent material properties, damping, cutout size, skewness of the plate and boundary conditions on the critical aerodynamic pressure is numerically studied.

math.NA↗

arXiv2013

Vibration of functionally graded material plates with cutouts & cracks in thermal environment

In this paper, the effect of a centrally located cutout (circular and elliptical) and cracks emanating from the cutout on the free flexural vibration behaviour of functionally graded material plates in thermal environment is studied. The discontinuity surface is represented independent of the mesh by exploiting the partition of unity method framework. A Heaviside function is used to capture the jump in the displacement across the discontinuity surface and asymptotic branch functions are used to capture the singularity around the crack tip. An enriched shear flexible 4-noded quadrilateral element is used for the spatial discretization. The properties are assumed to vary only in the thickness direction. The effective properties of the functionally graded material are estimated using the Mori- Tanaka homogenization scheme and the plate kinematics is based on the first order shear deformation theory. The influence of the plate geometry, the geometry of the cutout, the crack length, the thermal gradient and the boundary conditions on the free flexural vibration is numerically studied.

math.NA↗

arXiv2012

Representation of singular fields without asymptotic enrichment in the extended finite element method

In this paper, we replace the asymptotic enrichments around the crack tip in the extended finite element method (XFEM) with the semi-analytical solution obtained by the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). The proposed method does not require special numerical integration technique to compute the stiffness matrix and it improves the capability of the XFEM to model cracks in homogeneous and/or heterogeneous materials without a priori knowledge of the asymptotic solutions. A heaviside enrichment is used to represent the jump across the discontinuity surface. We call the method as the extended scaled boundary finite element method (xSBFEM). Numerical results presented for a few benchmark problems in the context of linear elastic fracture mechanics show that the proposed method yields accurate results with improved condition number. A simple MATLAB code is annexed to compute the terms in the stiffness matrix, which can easily be integrated in any existing FEM/XFEM code.

math.NA↗

arXiv2012

NURBS-based finite element analysis of functionally graded plates: static bending, vibration, buckling and flutter

In this paper, a non-uniform rational B-spline based iso-geometric finite element method is used to study the static and dynamic characteristics of functionally graded material (FGM) plates. The material properties are assumed to be graded only in the thickness direction and the effective properties are computed either using the rule of mixtures or by Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. The plate kinematics is based on the first order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT). The shear correction factors are evaluated employing the energy equivalence principle and a simple modification to the shear correction factor is presented to alleviate shear locking. Static bending, mechanical and thermal buckling, linear free flexural vibration and supersonic flutter analysis of FGM plates are numerically studied. The accuracy of the present formulation is validated against available three-dimensional solutions. A detailed numerical study is carried out to examine the influence of the gradient index, the plate aspect ratio and the plate thickness on the global response of functionally graded material plates.

math.NA↗

arXiv2012

Efficient recovery-based error estimation for the smoothed finite element method for smooth and singular linear elasticity

An error control technique aimed to assess the quality of smoothed finite element approximations is presented in this paper. Finite element techniques based on strain smoothing appeared in 2007 were shown to provide significant advantages compared to conventional finite element approximations. In particular, a widely cited strength of such methods is improved accuracy for the same computational cost. Yet, few attempts have been made to directly assess the quality of the results obtained during the simulation by evaluating an estimate of the discretization error. Here we propose a recovery type error estimator based on an enhanced recovery technique. The salient features of the recovery are: enforcement of local equilibrium and, for singular problems a "smooth+singular" decomposition of the recovered stress. We evaluate the proposed estimator on a number of test cases from linear elastic structural mechanics and obtain precise error estimations whose effectivities, both at local and global levels, are improved compared to recovery procedures not implementing these features.

math.NA↗