Universitätsbibliothek
Weimar Open Access

Numerical simulation of physical phenomena, like electro-magnetics, structural and fluid mechanics is essential for the cost- and time-efficient development of mechanical products at high quality. It allows to investigate the behavior of a product or a system far before the first prototype of a product is manufactured. This thesis addresses the simulation of contact mechanics. Mechanical contacts appear in nearly every product of mechanical engineering. Gearboxes, roller bearings, valves and pumps are only some examples. Simulating these systems not only for the maximal/minimal stresses and strains but for the stress-distribution in case of tribo-contacts is a challenging task from a numerical point of view. Classical procedures like the Finite Element Method suffer from the nonsmooth representation of contact surfaces with discrete Lagrange elements. On the one hand, an error due to the approximate description of the surface is introduced. On the other hand it is difficult to attain a robust contact search because surface normals can not be described in a unique form at element edges. This thesis introduces therefore a novel approach, the adaptive isogeometric contact formulation based on polynomial Splines over hierarchical T-meshes (PHT-Splines), for the approximate solution of the non-linear contact problem. It provides a more accurate, robust and efficient solution compared to conventional methods. During the development of this method the focus was laid on the solution of static contact problems without friction in 2D and 3D in which the structures undergo small deformations. The mathematical description of the problem entails a system of partial differential equations and boundary conditions which model the linear elastic behaviour of continua. Additionally, it comprises side conditions, the Karush-Kuhn-Tuckerconditions, to prevent the contacting structures from non-physical penetration. The mathematical model must be transformed into its integral form for approximation of the solution. Employing a penalty method, contact constraints are incorporated by adding the resulting equations in weak form to the overall set of equations. For an efficient space discretization of the bulk and especially the contact boundary of the structures, the principle of Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) is applied. Isogeometric Finite Element Methods provide several advantages over conventional Finite Element discretization. Surface approximation with Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) allow a robust numerical solution of the contact problem with high accuracy in terms of an exact geometry description including the surface smoothness. The numerical evaluation of the contact integral is challenging due to generally non-conforming meshes of the contacting structures. In this work the highly accurate Mortar Method is applied in the isogeometric setting for the evaluation of contact contributions. This leads to an algebraic system of equations that is linearized and solved in sequential steps. This procedure is known as the Newton Raphson Method. Based on numerical examples, the advantages of the isogeometric approach with classical refinement strategies, like the p- and h-refinement, are shown and the influence of relevant algorithmic parameters on the approximate solution of the contact problem is verified. One drawback of the Spline approximations of stresses though is that they lack accuracy at the contact edge where the structures change their boundary from contact to no contact and where the solution features a kink. The approximation with smooth Spline functions yields numerical artefacts in the form of non-physical oscillations. This property of the numerical solution is not only a drawback for the simulation of e.g. tribological contacts, it also influences the convergence properties of iterative solution procedures negatively. Hence, the NURBS discretized geometries are transformed to Polynomial Splines over Hierarchical T-meshes (PHT-Splines), for the local refinement along contact edges to reduce the artefact of pressure oscillations. NURBS have a tensor product structure which does not allow to refine only certain parts of the geometrical domain while leaving other parts unchanged. Due to the Bézier Extraction, lying behind the transformation from NURBS to PHT-Splines, the connected mesh structure is broken up into separate elements. This allows an efficient local refinement along the contact edge. Before single elements are refined in a hierarchical form with cross-insertion, existing basis functions must be modified or eliminated. This process of truncation assures local and global linear independence of the refined basis which is needed for a unique approximate solution. The contact boundary is a priori unknown. Local refinement along the contact edge, especially for 3D problems, is for this reason not straight forward. In this work the use of an a posteriori error estimation procedure, the Super Convergent Recovery Solution Based Error Estimation Scheme, together with the Dörfler Marking Method is suggested for the spatial search of the contact edge. Numerical examples show that the developed method improves the quality of solutions along the contact edge significantly compared to NURBS based approximate solutions. Also, the error in maximum contact pressures, which correlates with the pressure artefacts, is minimized by the adaptive local refinement. In a final step the practicability of the developed solution algorithm is verified by an industrial application: The highly loaded mechanical contact between roller and cam in the drive train of a high-pressure fuel pump is considered.

The purpose of this study is to develop self-contained methods for obtaining smooth meshes which are compatible with isogeometric analysis (IGA). The study contains three main parts. We start by developing a better understanding of shapes and splines through the study of an image-related problem. Then we proceed towards obtaining smooth volumetric meshes of the given voxel-based images. Finally, we treat the smoothness issue on the multi-patch domains with C1 coupling. Following are the highlights of each part. First, we present a B-spline convolution method for boundary representation of voxel-based images. We adopt the filtering technique to compute the B-spline coefficients and gradients of the images effectively. We then implement the B-spline convolution for developing a non-rigid images registration method. The proposed method is in some sense of “isoparametric”, for which all the computation is done within the B-splines framework. Particularly, updating the images by using B-spline composition promote smooth transformation map between the images. We show the possible medical applications of our method by applying it for registration of brain images. Secondly, we develop a self-contained volumetric parametrization method based on the B-splines boundary representation. We aim to convert a given voxel-based data to a matching C1 representation with hierarchical cubic splines. The concept of the osculating circle is employed to enhance the geometric approximation, where it is done by a single template and linear transformations (scaling, translations, and rotations) without the need for solving an optimization problem. Moreover, we use the Laplacian smoothing and refinement techniques to avoid irregular meshes and to improve mesh quality. We show with several examples that the method is capable of handling complex 2D and 3D configurations. In particular, we parametrize the 3D Stanford bunny which contains irregular shapes and voids. Finally, we propose the B´ezier ordinates approach and splines approach for C1 coupling. In the first approach, the new basis functions are defined in terms of the B´ezier Bernstein polynomials. For the second approach, the new basis is defined as a linear combination of C0 basis functions. The methods are not limited to planar or bilinear mappings. They allow the modeling of solutions to fourth order partial differential equations (PDEs) on complex geometric domains, provided that the given patches are G1 continuous. Both methods have their advantages. In particular, the B´ezier approach offer more degree of freedoms, while the spline approach is more computationally efficient. In addition, we proposed partial degree elevation to overcome the C1-locking issue caused by the over constraining of the solution space. We demonstrate the potential of the resulting C1 basis functions for application in IGA which involve fourth order PDEs such as those appearing in Kirchhoff-Love shell models, Cahn-Hilliard phase field application, and biharmonic problems.

Identification of flaws in structures is a critical element in the management of maintenance and quality assurance processes in engineering. Nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques based on a wide range of physical principles have been developed and are used in common practice for structural health monitoring. However, basic NDT techniques are usually limited in their ability to provide the accurate information on locations, dimensions and shapes of flaws. One alternative to extract additional information from the results of NDT is to append it with a computational model that provides detailed analysis of the physical process involved and enables the accurate identification of the flaw parameters. The aim here is to develop the strategies to uniquely identify cracks in two-dimensional 2D) structures under dynamic loadings. A local NDT technique combined eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) with dynamic loading in order to identify the cracks in the structures quickly and accurately is developed in this dissertation. The Newmark-b time integration method with Rayleigh damping is used for the time integration. We apply Nelder-Mead (NM)and Quasi-Newton (QN) methods for identifying the crack tip in plate. The inverse problem is solved iteratively, in which XFEM is used for solving the forward problem in each iteration. For a timeharmonic excitation with a single frequency and a short-duration signal measured along part of the external boundary, the crack is detected through the solution of an inverse time-dependent problem. Compared to the static load, we show that the dynamic loads are more effective for crack detection problems. Moreover, we tested different dynamic loads and find that NM method works more efficient under the harmonic load than the pounding load while the QN method achieves almost the same results for both load types. A global strategy, Multilevel Coordinate Search (MCS) with XFEM (XFEM-MCS) methodology under the dynamic electric load, to detect multiple cracks in 2D piezoelectric plates is proposed in this dissertation. The Newmark-b method is employed for the time integration and in each iteration the forward problem is solved by XFEM for various cracks. The objective functional is minimized by using a global search algorithm MCS. The test problems show that the XFEM-MCS algorithm under the dynamic electric load can be effectively employed for multiple cracks detection in piezoelectric materials, and it proves to be robust in identifying defects in piezoelectric structures. Fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) are extensively applied in practical engineering since they have high stiffness and strength. Experiments reveal a so-called interphase zone, i.e. the space between the outside interface of the fiber and the inside interface of the matrix. The interphase strength between the fiber and the matrix strongly affects the mechanical properties as a result of the large ratio of interface/volume. For the purpose of understanding the mechanical properties of FRCs with functionally graded interphase (FGI), a closed-form expression of the interface strength between a fiber and a matrix is obtained in this dissertation using a continuum modeling approach according to the ver derWaals (vdW) forces. Based on the interatomic potential, we develop a new modified nonlinear cohesive law, which is applied to study the interface delamination of FRCs with FGI under different loadings. The analytical solutions show that the delamination behavior strongly depends on the interphase thickness, the fiber radius, the Young’s moduli and Poisson’s ratios of the fiber and the matrix. Thermal conductivity is the property of a material to conduct heat. With the development and deep research of 2D materials, especially graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), the thermal conductivity of 2D materials attracts wide attentions. The thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is found to appear a tendency of decreasing under tensile strain by classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Hence, the strain effects of graphene can play a key role in the continuous tunability and applicability of its thermal conductivity property at nanoscale, and the dissipation of thermal conductivity is an obstacle for the applications of thermal management. Up to now, the thermal conductivity of graphene under shear deformation has not been investigated yet. From a practical point of view, good thermal managements of GNRs have significantly potential applications of future GNR-based thermal nanodevices, which can greatly improve performances of the nanosized devices due to heat dissipations. Meanwhile, graphene is a thin membrane structure, it is also important to understand the wrinkling behavior under shear deformation. MoS2 exists in the stable semiconducting 1H phase (1H-MoS2) while the metallic 1T phase (1T-MoS2) is unstable at ambient conditions. As it’s well known that much attention has been focused on studying the nonlinear optical properties of the 1H-MoS2. In a very recent research, the 1T-type monolayer crystals of TMDCs, MX2 (MoS2, WS2 ...) was reported having an intrinsic in-plane negative Poisson’s ratio. Luckily, nearly at the same time, unprecedented long-term (>3months) air stability of the 1T-MoS2 can be achieved by using the donor lithium hydride (LiH). Therefore, it’s very important to study the thermal conductivity of 1T-MoS2. The thermal conductivity of graphene under shear strain is systematically studied in this dissertation by MD simulations. The results show that, in contrast to the dramatic decrease of thermal conductivity of graphene under uniaxial tensile, the thermal conductivity of graphene is not sensitive to the shear strain, and the thermal conductivity decreases only 12-16%. The wrinkle evolves when the shear strain is around 5%-10%, but the thermal conductivity barely changes. The thermal conductivities of single-layer 1H-MoS2(1H-SLMoS2) and single-layer 1T-MoS2 (1T-SLMoS2) with different sample sizes, temperatures and strain rates have been studied systematically in this dissertation. We find that the thermal conductivities of 1H-SLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 in both the armchair and the zigzag directions increase with the increasing of the sample length, while the increase of the width of the sample has minor effect on the thermal conductions of these two structures. The thermal conductivity of 1HSLMoS2 is smaller than that of 1T-SLMoS2 under size effect. Furthermore, the temperature effect results show that the thermal conductivities of both 1H-SLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 decrease with the increasing of the temperature. The thermal conductivities of 1HSLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 are nearly the same (difference <6%) in both of the chiral orientations under corresponding temperatures, especially in the armchair direction (difference <2.8%). Moreover, we find that the strain effects on the thermal conductivity of 1HSLMoS2 and 1T-SLMoS2 are different. More specifically, the thermal conductivity decreases with the increasing tensile strain rate for 1T-SLMoS2, while fluctuates with the growth of the strain for 1HSLMoS2. Finally, we find that the thermal conductivity of same sized 1H-SLMoS2 is similar with that of the strained 1H-SLMoS2 structure.

PDE based determination of piezoelectric material tensors.

Optimal measurement selection for piezoelectric material tensor identification.