É. Budyn¹, A. Bilagi², V. Subramanian³, A.A. Espinoza Orías⁴, N. Inoue⁴

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.98, No.3, pp. 341-374, 2014, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2014.098.341

Abstract Focal damage such as cartilaginous defects, erosions, micro-fractures, Schmorl nodes and thinning in the human vertebral endplate are thought to contribute to intervertebral disc degeneration by compromising the nutrition transport between the vertebral bone marrow and the disc nucleus pulposus. However, microfractures in the endplate are currently not detectable by conventional clinical radiographic methods. Nonetheless high quality visualisation of the human endplate is possible by means of advanced light microscopy and appropriate staining. The objective of this study focuses on efficient and inexpensive multi-scale protocols to prepare the surfaces of human endplate specimens for morphometric… More >

A. Roychowdhury^1,2, A. Nandy¹, C.S. Jog¹, R. Pratap^1,2

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.103, No.2, pp. 91-110, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2014.103.091

Abstract We present a hybrid finite element based methodology to solve the coupled fluid structure problem of squeeze film effects in vibratory MEMS devices, such as gyroscopes, RF switches, and 2D resonators. The aforementioned devices often have a thin plate like structure vibrating normally to a fixed substrate, and are generally not perfectly vacuum packed. This results in a thin air film being trapped between the vibrating plate and the fixed substrate which behaves like a squeeze film offering both stiffness and damping. For accurate modelling of such devices the squeeze film effects must be incorporated.… More >

G Devaraj¹, Shashi Narayan¹, Debasish Roy^1,2

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.102, No.1, pp. 1-54, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2014.102.001

Abstract This work sets forth a 'hybrid' discretization scheme utilizing bivariate simplex splines as kernels in a polynomial reproducing scheme constructed over a conventional Finite Element Method (FEM)-like domain discretization based on Delaunay triangulation. Careful construction of the simplex spline knotset ensures the success of the polynomial reproduction procedure at all points in the domain of interest, a significant advancement over its precursor, the DMS-FEM. The shape functions in the proposed method inherit the global continuity (C^p-1) and local supports of the simplex splines of degree p. In the proposed scheme, the triangles comprising the domain discretization More >

N.A. Dumont ¹, D. Huamán¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.101, No.6, pp. 387-419, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2014.101.387

Abstract The present paper starts with Mindlin’s theory of the strain gradient elasticity, based on three additional constants for homogeneous materials (besides the Lamé’s constants), to arrive at a proposition made by Aifantis with just one additional parameter. Aifantis’characteristic material length g², as it multiplies the Laplacian of the Cauchy stresses, may be seen as a penalty parameter to enforce interelement displacement gradient compatibility also in the case of a material in which the microstructure peculiarities are in principle not too relevant, but where high stress gradients occur. It is shown that the hybrid finite element formulation… More >

Yidong Bao^1,2, Dongmei Wu^1,3

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.100, No.4, pp. 277-294, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2014.100.277

Abstract Aiming at the shortcomings of mass-spring model, this paper, on the basis of preliminary studies, established a new viscoelastic soft tissue model based on meshless structure. The model is consisted of a large quantity of filled spheres, with every three spheres being connected by a spring and a Kelvin structure, which can further enhance the real-time virtual simulation operability while ensure the viscoelasticity of basic model. The stress relaxation and creep equation of the model can be derived from formula derivation. Through setting different parameters to the filled spheres, this model, with certain universal property, More >

Yu Miao¹, Zhe Chen¹, Qiao Wang^1,2, Hongping Zhu¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.43, No.1, pp. 49-74, 2014, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2014.043.049

Abstract In this paper, an improved multi-domain model based on the hybrid boundary node method (Hybrid BNM) is proposed for mechanical analysis of 3D composites. The Hybrid BNM is a boundary type meshless method which based on the modified variational principle and the Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation. The improved multi-domain model can reduce the total degrees of freedom (DOFs) compared with the conventional multi-domain solver. It is very suitable for the inclusion-based composites, especially for the composites when the inclusions are solid and totally embedded in the matrix domain. Numerical examples are presented to verify More >

Yanxia Zhang¹, Tiina Nypelö^1,*, Carlos Salas¹, Julio Arboleda¹, Ingrid C. Hoeger^1,*, Orlando J. Rojas^1,2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.3, pp. 195-211, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2013.634115

Abstract Cellulose nanofi brils (CNF), also known as nanofi brillar cellulose (NFC), are an advanced biomaterial made mainly from renewable forest and agricultural resources that have demonstrated exceptional performance in composites. In addition, they have been utilized in barrier coatings, food, transparent fl exible fi lms and other applications. Research on CNF has advanced rapidly over the last decade and several of the fundamental questions about production and characterization of CNF have been addressed. An interesting shift in focus in the recent reported literature indicates increased efforts aimed at taking advantage of the unique properties of More >

Seyed Mahmoud Hosseini ¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.95, No.1, pp. 1-29, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2013.095.001

Abstract In this article, the effects of carbon nanotubes distributions on natural frequency are studied for a functionally graded nanocomposite thick hollow cylinder reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes using a hybrid mesh-free method. The FG nanocomposite cylinder is excited by a shock loading, which is applied on the inner surface of cylinder. The first natural frequency is obtained for various nonlinear grading patterns of distributions of the aligned carbon nanotubes. The effects of various nonlinear grading patterns on natural frequency are obtained and discussed in details. The presented hybrid mesh-free method is based on the generalized More >

D.S. Liu^1,2, Z.H. Fong¹, I.H. Lin¹, Z.W. Zhuang¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.93, No.6, pp. 441-468, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2013.093.441

Abstract In this study, we proposed a novel numerical technique to simulate the transient moisture diffusion process and to apply it to heterogeneous composite resins. The method is based on a heterogeneous hybrid moisture element (HHME), with properties determined through an equivalent hybrid moisture capacitance/ conductance matrix that was calculated using the conventional finite element formulation in space discretization and the q-method in time discretization, with similar mass/stiffness properties and matrix condensing operations. A coupled HHME with finite element scheme was developed and implemented in the computer code by using the commercial software MATLAB to analyze… More >

Weichung Yeih^1,2, Cheng-Yu Ku^1,2,3, Chein-Shan Liu⁴, I-Yao Chan^1,2

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.90, No.4, pp. 255-282, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2013.090.255

Abstract In this paper, a scalar homotopy method with optimal hybrid search directions for solving nonlinear algebraic equations is proposed. To conduct the proposed method, we first convert the vector residual function to a scalar function by taking the square norm of the vector function and then, introduce a fictitious time variable to form a scalar homotopy function. To improve the convergence and the accuracy of the proposed method, a vector with multiple search directions and an iterative algorithm are introduced into the evolution dynamics of the solutions. Further, for obtaining the optimal search direction, linear… More >