Open Access

ARTICLE

SPH and FEM Investigation of Hydrodynamic Impact Problems

Al-Bahkali Essam¹, Souli Mhamed², Al-Bahkali Thamar¹

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University P.O. Box800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.
2 Université de Lille Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille, UMR CNRS 8107 France.

Computers, Materials & Continua 2015, 46(1), 57-78. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2015.046.057

Abstract

Simulation of hydrodynamic impact problems and its effect on surrounding structures, can be considered as a fluid structure coupling problem. The application is mainly used in automotive and aerospace engineering and also in civil engineering. Classical FEM and Finite Volume methods were the main formulations used by engineers to solve these problems. For the last decades, new formulations have been developed for fluid structure coupling applications using mesh free methods as SPH method, (Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic) and DEM (Discrete Element Method). Up to these days very little has been done to compare different methods and assess which one would be more suitable. In this paper the mathematical and numerical implementation of the FEM and SPH formulations for hydrodynamic problem are described. From different simulations, it has been observed that for the SPH method to provide similar results as FEM Lagrangian formulations, the SPH meshing, or SPH particle spacing needs to be finer than FEM mesh. To validate the statement, we perform a simulation of a hydrodynamic impact on an elasto-plastic plate structure. For this simple, the particle spacing of SPH method needs to be at least two times finer than FEM mesh. A contact algorithm is performed at the fluid structure interface for both SPH and FEM formulations. In the paper the efficiency and usefulness of two methods, often used in numerical simulations, are compared.

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