E. Ferretti¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.9, No.1, pp. 19-48, 2005, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2005.009.019

Abstract In this study nonlocality is discussed with regard to the differential and discrete formulations. Here, nonlocality is found to be a concept attaining not to the description of the material, but to the governing equations. This has made it possible to discuss the opportunity of introducing nonlocality in the constitutive equations, in order to give respectability to strain-softening damage models. When using the differential formulation, a length scale must be introduced into the material description of a strain-softening modeling, particularly when the size-effect is involved. In the opinion of the Author, this need lies in… More >

P. Castillo², J. Koning³, R. Rieben⁴, D. White⁵

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.5, No.4, pp. 331-346, 2004, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2004.005.331

Abstract In this article, we present a computational framework for solving problems arising in electromagnetism. The framework is derived from a modern geometrical approach and is based on differential forms (or p-forms). These geometrical entities provide a natural framework for modeling of physical quantities such as electric potentials, electric and magnetic fields, electric and magnetic fluxes, etc. We have implemented an object oriented class library, called FEMSTER. The library is designed for high order finite element approximations. In addition, it can be expanded by including user-defined data types or by deriving new classes. Finally, the versatility More >

Jun Liu¹, Mauro Ferrari¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.4, No.3&4, pp. 421-430, 2003, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2003.004.421

Abstract A microstructure-accounting mechanical field theory approach is applied to the problem of reflection from a granular thin layer embedded between two solid substrates to study the direct relationship of the micro-structural parameters and the overall reflection coefficients of the thin layer. The exact solution for plane wave reflection coefficients is derived under the new theoretical framework giving quantitative relations between the macroscopic reflection coefficients and a set of micro structural/physical parameters including particle size and micromoduli. The model was analyzed using averaged material properties of biological tissue for the granular thin layer. It was demonstrated More >

N. Sukumar¹, J. E. Bolander¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.4, No.6, pp. 691-706, 2003, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2003.004.691

Abstract In this paper, we explore the numerical approximation of discrete differential operators on non-uniform grids. The Voronoi cell and the notion of natural neighbors are used to approximate the Laplacian and the gradient operator on irregular grids. The underlying weight measure used in the numerical computations is the {\em Laplace weight function}, which has been previously adopted in meshless Galerkin methods. We develop a difference approximation for the diffusion operator on irregular grids, and present numerical solutions for the Poisson equation. On regular grids, the discrete Laplacian is shown to reduce to the classical finite More >

Enzo TONTI¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.2, No.2, pp. 237-258, 2001, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2001.002.237

Abstract We present a new numerical method for the solution of field equations. The essence of the method is to directly provide a discrete formulation of field laws, without using and requiring a differential formulation. It is proved that, for linear interpolation, the stiffness matrix so obtained coincides with the one of the Finite Element Method. For quadratic interpolation, however, the present stiffness matrix differs from that of FEM; moreover it is unsymmetric. It is shown that by using a parabolic interpolation, a convergence of the fourth order is obtained. This is greater than the one More >