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Multiscale computational modelling is challenging due to the high computational cost of direct numerical simulation by finite elements. To address this issue, concurrent multiscale methods use the solution of cheaper macroscale surrogates as boundary conditions to microscale sliding windows. The microscale problems remain a numerically challenging operation both in terms of implementation and cost. In this work we propose to replace the local microscale solution by an Encoder-Decoder Convolutional Neural Network that will generate fine-scale stress corrections to coarse predictions around unresolved microscale features, without prior parametrisation of local microscale problems. We deploy a Bayesian approach providing credible intervals to evaluate the uncertainty of the predictions, which is then used to investigate the merits of a selective learning framework. We will demonstrate the capability of the approach to predict equivalent stress fields in porous structures using linearised and finite strain elasticity theories., Comment: 50 pages, 42 figures; corrected typos; clarifications

This work models spatially uncorrelated (independent) load uncertainty and develops a reduced-order Monte Carlo stochastic isogeometric method to quantify the effect of the load uncertainty on the structural response of thin shells and solid structures. The approach is tested on two demonstrative applications of uncertainty, namely, spatially uncorrelated loading, with (1) Scordelis–Lo Roof shell structure, and (2) a 3D wind turbine blade. This work has three novelties. Firstly, the research models spatially uncorrelated (independent) load uncertainties (including both their magnitude and/or direction) using stochastic analysis. Secondly, the paper advances a reduced-order Monte Carlo stochastic isogeometric method to quantify the spatially uncorrelated load uncertainty. It inherits the merits of isogeometric analysis, which enables the precise representation of geometry and alleviates shell shear locking, thereby reducing the model’s uncertainties. Moreover, the method retains the generality and accuracy of classical Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), with significant efficiency gains. The demonstrative results suggest that there is a cost, which is 3% of the time used by the standard MCS. Furthermore, a significant observation is made from the conducted numerical tests. It is noticed that the standard deviation of the output (i.e., displacement) is strongly influenced when the load uncertainty is spatially uncorrelated. Namely, the standard derivation (SD) of the output is roughly 10 times smaller than the SD for correlated load uncertainties. Nonetheless, the expected values remain consistent between the two cases.

Interfacial cracking occurs in many engineering problems such as delamination in composite laminates, matrix/interface debonding in fibre reinforced composites etc. Computational modelling of these interfacial cracks usually employs compatible or matching cohesive interface elements. In this paper, incompatible or non-matching cohesive interface elements are proposed for interfacial fracture mechanics problems. They allow non-matching finite element discretisations of the opposite crack faces thus lifting the constraint on the compatible discretisation of the domains sharing the interface. The formulation is based on a discontinuous Galerkin method and works with both initially elastic and rigid cohesive laws. The proposed formulation has the following advantages compared to classical interface elements: (i) non-matching discretisations of the domains and (ii) no high dummy stiffness. Two and three dimensional quasi-static fracture simulations are conducted to demonstrate the method. Our method not only simplifies the meshing process but also it requires less computational demands, compared with standard interface elements, for problems that involve materials/solids having a large mismatch in stiffnesses.

© 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Strain gradient plasticity theories are being widely used for fracture assessment, as they provide a richer description of crack tip fields by incorporating the influence of geometrically necessary dislocations. Characterizing the behavior at the small scales involved in crack tip deformation requires, however, the use of a very refined mesh within microns to the crack. In this work a novel and efficient gradient-enhanced numerical framework is developed by means of the extended finite element method (X-FEM). A mechanism-based gradient plasticity model is employed and the approximation of the displacement field is enriched with the stress singularity of the gradient-dominated solution. Results reveal that the proposed numerical methodology largely outperforms the standard finite element approach. The present work could have important implications on the use of microstructurally-motivated models in large scale applications. The non-linear X-FEM code developed in MATLAB can be downloaded from www.empaneda.com/codes.

This paper proposes an adaptive atomistic-continuum numerical method for quasi-static crack growth. The phantom node method is used to model the crack in the continuum region and a molecular statics model is used near the crack tip. To ensure self-consistency in the bulk, a virtual atom cluster is used to model the material of the coarse scale. The coupling between the coarse scale and ne scale is realized through ghost atoms. The ghost atom positions are interpolated from the coarse scale solution and enforced as boundary conditions on the ne scale. The ne scale region is adaptively enlarged as the crack propagates and the region behind the crack tip is adaptively coarsened. An energy criterion is used to detect the crack tip loca- tion. The triangular lattice in the ne scale region corresponds to the lattice structure of the (111) plane of an FCC crystal. The Lennard-Jones potential is used to model the atom-atom interactions. The method is implemented in two dimensions. The results are compared to pure atomistic simulations; they show excellent agreement.

This article outlines a method for stabilising the current continuity equations which are used for semiconductor device simulation. Residual-free bubble functions (RfBF) are incorporated into a finite element (FE) implementation that are able to prevent oscillations which are seen when using the conventional Bubnov-Galerkin FE implementation. In addition, it is shown that the RfBF are able to provide stabilisation with very distorted meshes and curved interface boundaries. Comparison with the commonly used SUPG scheme is made throughout, showing that in the case of 2D problems the RfBF allow faster convergence of the coupled semiconductor device equations, especially in the case of distorted meshes.

In this paper, a node-based smoothed finite element method (NS-FEM) using 3-node triangular elements is formulated for static, free vibration and buckling analyses of Reissner–Mindlin plates. The discrete weak form of the NS-FEM is obtained based on the strain smoothing technique over smoothing domains associated with the nodes of the elements. The discrete shear gap (DSG) method together with a stabilization technique is incorporated into the NS-FEM to eliminate transverse shear locking and to maintain stability of the present formulation. A so-called node-based smoothed stabilized discrete shear gap method (NS-DSG) is then proposed. Several numerical examples are used to illustrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the present method.

This paper proposes a three-dimensional meshfree method for arbitrary crack initiation and propagation that ensures crack path continuity for non-linear material models and cohesive laws. The method is based on a local partition of unity. An extrinsic enrichment of the meshfree shape functions is used with discontinuous and near-front branch functions to close the crack front and improve accuracy. The crack is hereby modeled as a jump in the displacement field. The initiation and propagation of a crack is determined by the loss of hyperbolicity or the loss of material stability criterion. The method is applied to several static, quasi-static and dynamic crack problems. The numerical results very precisely replicate available experimental and analytical results.

[EN] 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 efficient error estimations whose effectivities, both at local and global levels, are improved compared to recovery procedures not implementing these features., Stephane Bordas would like to thank the partial financial support of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Leverhulme Trust for his Senior Research Fellowship Towards the next generation surgical simulators as well as the financial support for Octavio A. Gonzalez-Estrada and Stephane Bordas from the UK Engineering Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/G042705/1 Increased Reliability for Industrially Relevant Automatic Crack Growth Simulation with the eXtended Finite Element Method. Stephane Bordas also thanks partial financial support of the European Research Council Starting Independent Research Grant (ERC Stg grant agreement No. 279578) and the FP7 Initial Training Network Funding under grant number 289361 "Integrating Numerical Simulation and Geometric Design Technology, INSIST". This work has been carried out within the framework of the research project DPI2010-20542 of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain). The financial support from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, PROMETEO/2012/023 and Generalitat Valenciana are also acknowledged.

We present an open-source software framework called PERMIX for multiscale modeling and simulation of fracture in solids. The framework is an object oriented open-source effort written primarily in Fortran 2003 standard with Fortran/C++ interfaces to a number of other libraries such as LAMMPS, ABAQUS, LS-DYNA and GMSH. Fracture on the continuum level is modeled by the extended finite element method (XFEM). Using several novel or state of the art methods, the piece software handles semi-concurrent multiscale methods as well as concurrent multiscale methods for fracture, coupling two continuum domains or atomistic domains to continuum domains, respectively. The efficiency of our open-source software is shown through several simulations including a 3D crack modeling in clay nanocomposites, a semi-concurrent FE-FE coupling, a 3D Arlequin multiscale example and an MD-XFEM coupling for dynamic crack propagation. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Interfacial energy plays an important role in equilibrium morphologies of nanosized microstructures of solid materials due to the high interface-to-volume ratio, and can no longer be neglected as it does in conventional mechanics analysis. When designing nanodevices and to understand the behavior of materials at the nano-scale, this interfacial energy must therefore be taken into account. The present work develops an effective numerical approach by means of a hybrid smoothed extended finite element/level set method to model nanoscale inhomogeneities with interfacial energy effect, in which the finite element mesh can be completely independent of the interface geometry. The Gurtin-Murdoch surface elasticity model is used to account for the interface stress effect and the Wachspress interpolants are used for the first time to construct the shape functions in the smoothed extended finite element method. Selected numerical results are presented to study the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method as well as the equilibrium shapes of misfit particles in elastic solids. The presented results compare very well with those obtained from theoretical solutions and experimental observations, and the computational efficiency of the method is shown to be superior to that of its most advanced competitor. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.