Friday, August 22, 2008

NUMERICAL METHODS

method for solving the time dependent Navier-Stokes equations, aiming at higher Reynolds' number, is presented. The direct numerical simulation of flows with high Reynolds' number is computationally expensive. The method presented is unconditionally stable, computationally cheap, and gives an accurate approximation to the quantities sought. In the defect step, the artificial viscosity parameter is added to the inverse Reynolds number as a stability factor, and the system is antidiffused in the correction step. Stability of the method is proven, and the error estimations for velocity and pressure are derived for the one- and two-step defect-correction methods. The spacial error is O(h) for the one-step defect-correction method, and O(h2) for the two-step method, where h is the diameter of the mesh. The method is compared to an alternative approach, and both methods are applied to a singularly perturbed convection-diffusion problem. The numerical results are given, which demonstrate the advantage (stability, no oscillations) of the method presented.

This work presents a variational formulation of the material failure process, idealized as strain or displacement discontinuities, by weak, strong, or discrete embedded discontinuities into a continuum. It is shown that the solution of the proposed variational formulation may be approximated by different types of finite elements with embedded discontinuities. The developed displacement approximation of a finite element split by the discontinuity leads to a symmetric stiffness matrix, which considers not only the continuity of tractions but also the rigid body relative motions of the portions in which the element is split. The variational formulation of a continuum with more than one discontinuity in its interior is developed. It is shown that this formulation may lead to finite elements with embedded discontinuities that can be classified as displacement, force, mixed, and hybrid models. To show the effectiveness of the proposed formulation, the classical example of a bar under tension is solved using one and 2D finite element approximations.

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