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Published January 15, 2009 | public
Journal Article

An error-estimate-free and remapping-free variational mesh refinement and coarsening method for dissipative solids at finite strains

Abstract

A variational h-adaptive finite element formulation is proposed. The distinguishing feature of this method is that mesh refinement and coarsening are governed by the same minimization principle characterizing the underlying physical problem. Hence, no error estimates are invoked at any stage of the adaption procedure. As a consequence, linearity of the problem and a corresponding Hilbert-space functional framework are not required and the proposed formulation can be applied to highly non-linear phenomena. The basic strategy is to refine (respectively, unrefine) the spatial discretization locally if such refinement (respectively, unrefinement) results in a sufficiently large reduction (respectively, sufficiently small increase) in the energy. This strategy leads to an adaption algorithm having O(N) complexity. Local refinement is effected by edge-bisection and local unrefinement by the deletion of terminal vertices. Dissipation is accounted for within a time-discretized variational framework resulting in an incremental potential energy. In addition, the entire hierarchy of successive refinements is stored and the internal state of parent elements is updated so that no mesh-transfer operator is required upon unrefinement. The versatility and robustness of the resulting variational adaptive finite element formulation is illustrated by means of selected numerical examples.

Additional Information

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 20 September 2007; Revised 17 June 2008; Accepted 18 June 2008. Support from the DoE through Caltech's ASC/ASAP Center for the Simulation of the Dynamic Response of Solids is gratefully acknowledged. J. M. is also grateful for support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under contract/grant number: Mo 1389/1-1.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023