@phdthesis{Eckardt2009, author = {Eckardt, Stefan}, title = {Adaptive heterogeneous multiscale models for the nonlinear simulation of concrete}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.1416}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20100317-15023}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, year = {2009}, abstract = {The nonlinear behavior of concrete can be attributed to the propagation of microcracks within the heterogeneous internal material structure. In this thesis, a mesoscale model is developed which allows for the explicit simulation of these microcracks. Consequently, the actual physical phenomena causing the complex nonlinear macroscopic behavior of concrete can be represented using rather simple material formulations. On the mesoscale, the numerical model explicitly resolves the components of the internal material structure. For concrete, a three-phase model consisting of aggregates, mortar matrix and interfacial transition zone is proposed. Based on prescribed grading curves, an efficient algorithm for the generation of three-dimensional aggregate distributions using ellipsoids is presented. In the numerical model, tensile failure of the mortar matrix is described using a continuum damage approach. In order to reduce spurious mesh sensitivities, introduced by the softening behavior of the matrix material, nonlocal integral-type material formulations are applied. The propagation of cracks at the interface between aggregates and mortar matrix is represented in a discrete way using a cohesive crack approach. The iterative solution procedure is stabilized using a new path following constraint within the framework of load-displacement-constraint methods which allows for an efficient representation of snap-back phenomena. In several examples, the influence of the randomly generated heterogeneous material structure on the stochastic scatter of the results is analyzed. Furthermore, the ability of mesoscale models to represent size effects is investigated. Mesoscale simulations require the discretization of the internal material structure. Compared to simulations on the macroscale, the numerical effort and the memory demand increases dramatically. Due to the complexity of the numerical model, mesoscale simulations are, in general, limited to small specimens. In this thesis, an adaptive heterogeneous multiscale approach is presented which allows for the incorporation of mesoscale models within nonlinear simulations of concrete structures. In heterogeneous multiscale models, only critical regions, i.e. regions in which damage develops, are resolved on the mesoscale, whereas undamaged or sparsely damage regions are modeled on the macroscale. A crucial point in simulations with heterogeneous multiscale models is the coupling of sub-domains discretized on different length scales. The sub-domains differ not only in the size of the finite elements but also in the constitutive description. In this thesis, different methods for the coupling of non-matching discretizations - constraint equations, the mortar method and the arlequin method - are investigated and the application to heterogeneous multiscale models is presented. Another important point is the detection of critical regions. An adaptive solution procedure allowing the transfer of macroscale sub-domains to the mesoscale is proposed. In this context, several indicators which trigger the model adaptation are introduced. Finally, the application of the proposed adaptive heterogeneous multiscale approach in nonlinear simulations of concrete structures is presented.}, subject = {Beton}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Roos2001, author = {Roos, Dirk}, title = {Approximation und Interpolation von Grenzzustandsfunktionen zur Sicherheitsbewertung nichtlinearer Finite-Elemente-Strukturen}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.71}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20040311-745}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, year = {2001}, abstract = {Die vorliegende Arbeit besch{\"a}ftigt sich mit der Berechnung der Sicherheit von Strukturen mit sowohl geometrisch als auch physikalisch nichtlinearem Verhalten. Die Berechnung der Versagenswahrscheinlichkeit einer Struktur mit Hilfe von Monte-Carlo-Simulationsmethoden erfordert, dass die Funktion der Strukturantwort implizit berechnet wird, zum Beispiel durch nichtlineare Strukturanalysen f{\"u}r jede Realisation der Zufallsvariablen. Die Strukturanalysen bilden jedoch den Hauptanteil am Berechnungsaufwand der Zuverl{\"a}ssigkeitsanalyse, so dass die Analyse von realistischen Strukturen mit nichtlinearem Verhalten durch die begrenzten Computer-Ressourcen stark eingeschr{\"a}nkt ist. Die klassischen Antwortfl{\"a}chenverfahren approximieren die Funktion der Strukturantwort oder aber die Grenzzustandsfunktion durch Polynome niedriger Ordnung. Dadurch ist f{\"u}r die Auswertung des Versagens-Kriteriums nur noch von Interesse, ob eine Realisation der Basisvariablen innerhalb oder außerhalb des von der Antwortfl{\"a}chenfunktion gebildeten Raumes liegt - die Strukturanalyse kann dann entfallen. Bei stark nichtlinearen Grenzzustandsfunktionen versagt die polynomiale Approximation. Das directional sampling neigt bei Problemen mit vielen Zufallsvariablen zu einem systematischen Fehler. Das adaptive importance directional sampling dagegen beseitigt diesen Fehler, verschenkt jedoch Informationen {\"u}ber den Verlauf der Grenzzustandsfunktion, da die aufgefundenen St{\"u}tzstellen aus den vorangegangenen Simulationsl{\"a}ufen nicht ber{\"u}cksichtigt werden k{\"o}nnen. Aus diesem Grund erscheint eine Kombination beider Simulationsverfahren und eine Interpolation mittels einer Antwortfl{\"a}che geeignet, diese Probleme zu l{\"o}sen. Dies war die Motivation f{\"u}r die Entwicklung eines Verfahren der adaptiven Simulation der Einheitsvektoren und anschließender Interpolation der Grenzzustandsfunktion durch eine Antwortfl{\"a}chenfunktion. Dieses Vorgehen stellt besondere Anforderungen an die Antwortfl{\"a}chenfunktion. Diese muss flexibel genug sein, um stark nichtlineare Grenzzustandsfunktionen beliebig genau ann{\"a}hern zu k{\"o}nnen. Außerdem sollte die Anzahl der verarbeitbaren St{\"u}tzstellen nicht begrenzt sein. Auch ist zu ber{\"u}cksichtigen, dass die Ermittlung der St{\"u}tzstellen auf der Grenzzustandsfunktion nicht regelm{\"a}ßig erfolgt. Die in dieser Arbeit entwickelten Methoden der lokalen Interpolation der Grenzzustandsfunktion durch Normalen-Hyperebenen bzw. sekantialen Hyperebenen und der sowohl lokalen als auch globalen Interpolation durch gewichtete Radien erf{\"u}llen diese Anforderungen. ungen. dieser Arbeit entwickelten Methoden der lokalen Interpolation der Grenzzustandsfunktion durch Normalen-Hyperebenen bzw. sekantialen Hyperebenen und der sowohl lokalen als auch globalen Interpolation durch gewichtete Radien erf{\"u}llen diese Anforderungen.}, subject = {Tragwerk}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Schorling1997, author = {Schorling, York}, title = {Beitrag zur Stabilit{\"a}tsuntersuchung von Strukturen mit r{\"a}umlich korrelierten geometrischen Imperfektionen}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.29}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20040216-317}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, year = {1997}, abstract = {F{\"u}r geometrisch imperfekte Strukturen wird die Versagenswahrscheinlichkeit bez{\"u}glich Stabilit{\"a}tskriterien bestimmt. Eine probabilistische Beschreibung der geometrischen Imperfektionen erfolgt mit skalaren ortsdiskretisierten Zufallsfeldern. Die Stabilit{\"a}tsberechnungen werden mit der Finite Elemente Methode durchgef{\"u}hrt. Ausgangspunkt der Berechnung ist eine systematische Formulierung probabilistisch gewichteter Imperfektionsformen durch eine Eigenwertzerlegung der Kovarianzmatrix. Wenn mit einer strukturmechanisch orientierten Sensitivit{\"a}tsanalyse ein Unterraum zur n{\"a}herungsweisen Beschreibung des probabilistischen Strukturverhaltens gefunden wird, kann die Versagenswahrscheinlichkeit numerisch sehr effizient durch ein Interaktionsmodell bestimmt werden. Es zeigte sich, daß dies genau dann m{\"o}glich ist, wenn die Beulform merklich im Imperfektionsfeld enthalten ist. Die Imperfektionsform am Bemessungspunkt entspricht dann, unabh{\"a}ngig vom Lastniveau, gerade der Beulform. Wenn die Beulform im Imperfektionsfeld einen untergeordneten Beitrag liefert, erscheint eine Reduktion des stochastischen Problems auf wenige Zufallsvariablen dagegen nicht m{\"o}glich.}, subject = {Tragwerk}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Will1999, author = {Will, Johannes}, title = {Beitrag zur Standsicherheitsberechnung im gekl{\"u}fteten Fels in der Kontinuums- und Diskontinuumsmechanik unter Verwendung impliziter und expliziter Berechnungsstrategien}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.58}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20040310-613}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, year = {1999}, subject = {Staumauer}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Hanna, author = {Hanna, John}, title = {Computational Fracture Modeling and Design of Encapsulation-Based Self-Healing Concrete Using XFEM and Cohesive Surface Technique}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.4746}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20221124-47467}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, pages = {125}, abstract = {Encapsulation-based self-healing concrete (SHC) is the most promising technique for providing a self-healing mechanism to concrete. This is due to its capacity to heal fractures effectively without human interventions, extending the operational life and lowering maintenance costs. The healing mechanism is created by embedding capsules containing the healing agent inside the concrete. The healing agent will be released once the capsules are fractured and the healing occurs in the vicinity of the damaged part. The healing efficiency of the SHC is still not clear and depends on several factors; in the case of microcapsules SHC the fracture of microcapsules is the most important aspect to release the healing agents and hence heal the cracks. This study contributes to verifying the healing efficiency of SHC and the fracture mechanism of the microcapsules. Extended finite element method (XFEM) is a flexible, and powerful discrete crack method that allows crack propagation without the requirement for re-meshing and has been shown high accuracy for modeling fracture in concrete. In this thesis, a computational fracture modeling approach of Encapsulation-based SHC is proposed based on the XFEM and cohesive surface technique (CS) to study the healing efficiency and the potential of fracture and debonding of the microcapsules or the solidified healing agents from the concrete matrix as well. The concrete matrix and a microcapsule shell both are modeled by the XFEM and combined together by CS. The effects of the healed-crack length, the interfacial fracture properties, and microcapsule size on the load carrying capability and fracture pattern of the SHC have been studied. The obtained results are compared to those obtained from the zero thickness cohesive element approach to demonstrate the significant accuracy and the validity of the proposed simulation. The present fracture simulation is developed to study the influence of the capsular clustering on the fracture mechanism by varying the contact surface area of the CS between the microcapsule shell and the concrete matrix. The proposed fracture simulation is expanded to 3D simulations to validate the 2D computational simulations and to estimate the accuracy difference ratio between 2D and 3D simulations. In addition, a proposed design method is developed to design the size of the microcapsules consideration of a sufficient volume of healing agent to heal the expected crack width. This method is based on the configuration of the unit cell (UC), Representative Volume Element (RVE), Periodic Boundary Conditions (PBC), and associated them to the volume fraction (Vf) and the crack width as variables. The proposed microcapsule design is verified through computational fracture simulations.}, subject = {Beton}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Habtemariam, author = {Habtemariam, Abinet Kifle}, title = {Generalized Beam Theory for the analysis of thin-walled circular pipe members}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.4572}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20220127-45723}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, pages = {188}, abstract = {The detailed structural analysis of thin-walled circular pipe members often requires the use of a shell or solid-based finite element method. Although these methods provide a very good approximation of the deformations, they require a higher degree of discretization which causes high computational costs. On the other hand, the analysis of thin-walled circular pipe members based on classical beam theories is easy to implement and needs much less computation time, however, they are limited in their ability to approximate the deformations as they cannot consider the deformation of the cross-section. This dissertation focuses on the study of the Generalized Beam Theory (GBT) which is both accurate and efficient in analyzing thin-walled members. This theory is based on the separation of variables in which the displacement field is expressed as a combination of predetermined deformation modes related to the cross-section, and unknown amplitude functions defined on the beam's longitudinal axis. Although the GBT was initially developed for long straight members, through the consideration of complementary deformation modes, which amend the null transverse and shear membrane strain assumptions of the classical GBT, problems involving short members, pipe bends, and geometrical nonlinearity can also be analyzed using GBT. In this dissertation, the GBT formulation for the analysis of these problems is developed and the application and capabilities of the method are illustrated using several numerical examples. Furthermore, the displacement and stress field results of these examples are verified using an equivalent refined shell-based finite element model. The developed static and dynamic GBT formulations for curved thin-walled circular pipes are based on the linear kinematic description of the curved shell theory. In these formulations, the complex problem in pipe bends due to the strong coupling effect of the longitudinal bending, warping and the cross-sectional ovalization is handled precisely through the derivation of the coupling tensors between the considered GBT deformation modes. Similarly, the geometrically nonlinear GBT analysis is formulated for thin-walled circular pipes based on the nonlinear membrane kinematic equations. Here, the initial linear and quadratic stress and displacement tangent stiffness matrices are built using the third and fourth-order GBT deformation mode coupling tensors. Longitudinally, the formulation of the coupled GBT element stiffness and mass matrices are presented using a beam-based finite element formulation. Furthermore, the formulated GBT elements are tested for shear and membrane locking problems and the limitations of the formulations regarding the membrane locking problem are discussed.}, subject = {Finite-Elemente-Methode}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Haefner2006, author = {H{\"a}fner, Stefan}, title = {Grid-based procedures for the mechanical analysis of heterogeneous solids}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.858}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20070830-9185}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The importance of modern simulation methods in the mechanical analysis of heterogeneous solids is presented in detail. Thereby the problem is noted that even for small bodies the required high-resolution analysis reaches the limits of today's computational power, in terms of memory demand as well as acceptable computational effort. A further problem is that frequently the accuracy of geometrical modelling of heterogeneous bodies is inadequate. The present work introduces a systematic combination and adaption of grid-based methods for achieving an essentially higher resolution in the numerical analysis of heterogeneous solids. Grid-based methods are as well primely suited for developing efficient and numerically stable algorithms for flexible geometrical modeling. A key aspect is the uniform data management for a grid, which can be utilized to reduce the effort and complexity of almost all concerned methods. A new finite element program, called Mulgrido, was just developed to realize this concept consistently and to test the proposed methods. Several disadvantages which generally result from grid discretizations are selectively corrected by modified methods. The present work is structured into a geometrical model, a mechanical model and a numerical model. The geometrical model includes digital image-based modeling and in particular several methods for the theory-based generation of inclusion-matrix models. Essential contributions refer to variable shape, size distribution, separation checks and placement procedures of inclusions. The mechanical model prepares the fundamentals of continuum mechanics, homogenization and damage modeling for the following numerical methods. The first topic of the numerical model introduces to a special version of B-spline finite elements. These finite elements are entirely variable in the order k of B-splines. For homogeneous bodies this means that the approximation quality can arbitrarily be scaled. In addition, the multiphase finite element concept in combination with transition zones along material interfaces yields a valuable solution for heterogeneous bodies. As the formulation is element-based, the storage of a global stiffness matrix is superseded such that the memory demand can essentially be reduced. This is possible in combination with iterative solver methods which represent the second topic of the numerical model. Here, the focus lies on multigrid methods where the number of required operations to solve a linear equation system only increases linearly with problem size. Moreover, for badly conditioned problems quite an essential improvement is achieved by preconditioning. The third part of the numerical model discusses certain aspects of damage simulation which are closely related to the proposed grid discretization. The strong efficiency of the linear analysis can be maintained for damage simulation. This is achieved by a damage-controlled sequentially linear iteration scheme. Finally a study on the effective material behavior of heterogeneous bodies is presented. Especially the influence of inclusion shapes is examined. By means of altogether more than one hundred thousand random geometrical arrangements, the effective material behavior is statistically analyzed and assessed.}, subject = {B-Spline}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schwedler, author = {Schwedler, Michael}, title = {Integrated structural analysis using isogeometric finite element methods}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.2737}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20170130-27372}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, pages = {209}, abstract = {The gradual digitization in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry over the past fifty years led to an extremely heterogeneous software environment, which today is embodied by the multitude of different digital tools and proprietary data formats used by the many specialists contributing to the design process in a construction project. Though these projects become increasingly complex, the demands on financial efficiency and the completion within a tight schedule grow at the same time. The digital collaboration of project partners has been identified as one key issue in successfully dealing with these challenges. Yet currently, the numerous software applications and their respective individual views on the design process severely impede that collaboration. An approach to establish a unified basis for the digital collaboration, regardless of the existing software heterogeneity, is a comprehensive digital building model contributed to by all projects partners. This type of data management known as building information modeling (BIM) has many benefits, yet its adoption is associated with many difficulties and thus, proceeds only slowly. One aspect in the field of conflicting requirements on such a digital model is the cooperation of architects and structural engineers. Traditionally, these two disciplines use different abstractions of reality for their models that in consequence lead to incompatible digital representations thereof. The onset of isogeometric analysis (IGA) promised to ease the discrepancy in design and analysis model representations. Yet, that initial focus quickly shifted towards using these methods as a more powerful basis for numerical simulations. Furthermore, the isogeometric representation alone is not capable of solving the model abstraction problem. It is thus the intention of this work to contribute to an improved digital collaboration of architects and engineers by exploring an integrated analysis approach on the basis of an unified digital model and solid geometry expressed by splines. In the course of this work, an analysis framework is developed that utilizes such models to automatically conduct numerical simulations commonly required in construction projects. In essence, this allows to retrieve structural analysis results from BIM models in a fast and simple manner, thereby facilitating rapid design iterations and profound design feedback. The BIM implementation Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is reviewed with regard to its capabilities of representing the unified model. The current IFC schema strongly supports the use of redundant model data, a major pitfall in digital collaboration. Additionally, it does not allow to describe the geometry by volumetric splines. As the pursued approach builds upon a unique model for both, architectural and structural design, and furthermore requires solid geometry, necessary schema modifications are suggested. Structural entities are modeled by volumetric NURBS patches, each of which constitutes an individual subdomain that, with regard to the analysis, is incompatible with the remaining full model. The resulting consequences for numerical simulation are elaborated in this work. The individual subdomains have to be weakly coupled, for which the mortar method is used. Different approaches to discretize the interface traction fields are implemented and their respective impact on the analysis results is evaluated. All necessary coupling conditions are automatically derived from the related geometry model. The weak coupling procedure leads to a linear system of equations in saddle point form, which, owed to the volumetric modeling, is large in size and, the associated coefficient matrix has, due to the use of higher degree basis functions, a high bandwidth. The peculiarities of the system require adapted solution methods that generally cause higher numerical costs than the standard procedures for symmetric, positive-definite systems do. Different methods to solve the specific system are investigated and an efficient parallel algorithm is finally proposed. When the structural analysis model is derived from the unified model in the BIM data, it does in general initially not meet the requirements on the discretization that are necessary to obtain sufficiently accurate analysis results. The consequently necessary patch refinements must be controlled automatically to allowfor an entirely automatic analysis procedure. For that purpose, an empirical refinement scheme based on the geometrical and possibly mechanical properties of the specific entities is proposed. The level of refinement may be selectively manipulated by the structural engineer in charge. Furthermore, a Zienkiewicz-Zhu type error estimator is adapted for the use with isogeometric analysis results. It is shown that also this estimator can be used to steer an adaptive refinement procedure.}, subject = {Finite-Elemente-Methode}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Nanthakumar, author = {Nanthakumar, S.S.}, title = {Inverse and optimization problems in piezoelectric materials using Extended Finite Element Method and Level sets}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.2709}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20161128-27095}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, abstract = {Piezoelectric materials are used in several applications as sensors and actuators where they experience high stress and electric field concentrations as a result of which they may fail due to fracture. Though there are many analytical and experimental works on piezoelectric fracture mechanics. There are very few studies about damage detection, which is an interesting way to prevent the failure of these ceramics. An iterative method to treat the inverse problem of detecting cracks and voids in piezoelectric structures is proposed. Extended finite element method (XFEM) is employed for solving the inverse problem as it allows the use of a single regular mesh for large number of iterations with different flaw geometries. Firstly, minimization of cost function is performed by Multilevel Coordinate Search (MCS) method. The XFEM-MCS methodology is applied to two dimensional electromechanical problems where flaws considered are straight cracks and elliptical voids. Then a numerical method based on combination of classical shape derivative and level set method for front propagation used in structural optimization is utilized to minimize the cost function. The results obtained show that the XFEM-level set methodology is effectively able to determine the number of voids in a piezoelectric structure and its corresponding locations. The XFEM-level set methodology is improved to solve the inverse problem of detecting inclusion interfaces in a piezoelectric structure. The material interfaces are implicitly represented by level sets which are identified by applying regularisation using total variation penalty terms. The formulation is presented for three dimensional structures and inclusions made of different materials are detected by using multiple level sets. The results obtained prove that the iterative procedure proposed can determine the location and approximate shape of material subdomains in the presence of higher noise levels. Piezoelectric nanostructures exhibit size dependent properties because of surface elasticity and surface piezoelectricity. Initially a study to understand the influence of surface elasticity on optimization of nano elastic beams is performed. The boundary of the nano structure is implicitly represented by a level set function, which is considered as the design variable in the optimization process. Two objective functions, minimizing the total potential energy of a nanostructure subjected to a material volume constraint and minimizing the least square error compared to a target displacement, are chosen for the numerical examples. The numerical examples demonstrate the importance of size and aspect ratio in determining how surface effects impact the optimized topology of nanobeams. Finally a conventional cantilever energy harvester with a piezoelectric nano layer is analysed. The presence of surface piezoelectricity in nano beams and nano plates leads to increase in electromechanical coupling coefficient. Topology optimization of these piezoelectric structures in an energy harvesting device to further increase energy conversion using appropriately modified XFEM-level set algorithm is performed .}, subject = {Finite-Elemente-Methode}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Hossain, author = {Hossain, Md Naim}, title = {Isogeometric analysis based on Geometry Independent Field approximaTion (GIFT) and Polynomial Splines over Hierarchical T-meshes}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.4037}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20191129-40376}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, pages = {157}, abstract = {This thesis addresses an adaptive higher-order method based on a Geometry Independent Field approximatTion(GIFT) of polynomial/rationals plines over hierarchical T-meshes(PHT/RHT-splines). In isogeometric analysis, basis functions used for constructing geometric models in computer-aided design(CAD) are also employed to discretize the partial differential equations(PDEs) for numerical analysis. Non-uniform rational B-Splines(NURBS) are the most commonly used basis functions in CAD. However, they may not be ideal for numerical analysis where local refinement is required. The alternative method GIFT deploys different splines for geometry and numerical analysis. NURBS are utilized for the geometry representation, while for the field solution, PHT/RHT-splines are used. PHT-splines not only inherit the useful properties of B-splines and NURBS, but also possess the capabilities of local refinement and hierarchical structure. The smooth basis function properties of PHT-splines make them suitable for analysis purposes. While most problems considered in isogeometric analysis can be solved efficiently when the solution is smooth, many non-trivial problems have rough solutions. For example, this can be caused by the presence of re-entrant corners in the domain. For such problems, a tensor-product basis (as in the case of NURBS) is less suitable for resolving the singularities that appear since refinement propagates throughout the computational domain. Hierarchical bases and local refinement (as in the case of PHT-splines) allow for a more efficient way to resolve these singularities by adding more degrees of freedom where they are necessary. In order to drive the adaptive refinement, an efficient recovery-based error estimator is proposed in this thesis. The estimator produces a recovery solution which is a more accurate approximation than the computed numerical solution. Several two- and three-dimensional numerical investigations with PHT-splines of higher order and continuity prove that the proposed method is capable of obtaining results with higher accuracy, better convergence, fewer degrees of freedom and less computational cost than NURBS for smooth solution problems. The adaptive GIFT method utilizing PHT-splines with the recovery-based error estimator is used for solutions with discontinuities or singularities where adaptive local refinement in particular domains of interest achieves higher accuracy with fewer degrees of freedom. This method also proves that it can handle complicated multi-patch domains for two- and three-dimensional problems outperforming uniform refinement in terms of degrees of freedom and computational cost.}, subject = {Finite-Elemente-Methode}, language = {en} }