F. Cosmi¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.27, No.3, pp. 187-196, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.027.187

Abstract The Cell Method is a recent numerical method that can be applied in several fields of physics and engineering. In this paper, the elastodynamics formulation is extended to include system internal damping, highlighting some interesting characteristics of the method. The developed formulation leads to an explicit solving system. The mass matrix is diagonal (without lumping) and in the most general case a time-dependent damping coefficient can be defined for each node. \newline Accuracy and convergence rate have been tested with reference to the classical problem of a particle free vibration with viscous damping.
An application More >

K. Jayabal, A. Arockiarajan, S.M. Sivakumar¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.27, No.1&2, pp. 111-124, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.027.111

Abstract A three dimensional micromechanically motivated model is proposed here based on firm thermodynamics principles to capture the nonlinear dissipative effects in the polycrystal ferroelectrics. The constraint imposed by the surrounding grains on a subgrain at its boundary during domain switching is modeled by a suitable modification of the switching threshold in a subgrain. The effect of this modification in the dissipation threshold is studied in the polycrystal behavior after due correlation of the subgrain behavior with the single crystal experimental results found in literature. Taking into consideration, all the domain switching possibilities, the volume fractions More >

Thi D. Dang¹, Bhavani V. Sankar²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.26, No.3, pp. 169-188, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.026.169

Abstract In this paper the meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method is used in the micromechanical analysis of a unidirectional fiber composite. The methods have been extended to include shear loadings, thus permitting a more complete micromechanical analysis of the composite subjected to combined loading states. The MLPG formulation is presented for the analysis of the representative volume element (RVE) of the periodic composite containing material discontinuities. Periodic boundary conditions are imposed between opposite faces of the RVE. The treatment of periodic boundary conditions in the MLPG method is handled by using the multipoint constraint technique. Examples More >

Z. Chen^1,2, Y. Gan¹, J.K. Chen²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.26, No.2, pp. 123-138, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.026.123

Abstract A coupled thermo-mechanical constitutive model with decohesion is proposed to simulate the material failure evolution due to localized heating. A discontinuous bifurcation analysis is performed based on a thermoviscoplasticity relation to identify the transition from continuous to discontinuous failure modes as well as the orientation of the discontinuous failure. The thermo-mechanical model is then implemented within the framework of the Material Point Method (MPM) so that the different gradient and divergence operators in the governing differential equations could be discretized in a single computational domain and that continuous remeshing is not required with the evolution More >

J.R. Jimenez-Octavio¹, O. Lopez-Garcia², E. Pilo¹, A. Carnicero²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.25, No.2, pp. 81-98, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.025.081

Abstract This paper presents a multidisciplinary design and optimization method of power transmission lines. This optimization method solves both mechanical and electrical problems by a new strongly coupled method that also optimizes the potential designs using a genetic algorithm. A multi-objective function is formulated to simplify a constrained typical optimization problem into an unconstrained one. The scope of this work is the sizing and configuration optimization problem with fixed topology. The method is applied to a railway overhead transmission line. The genetic algorithm is applied to mechanical, electrical and electromechanical optimization problems obtaining good results. Finally, More >

Liming Xiong¹, Youping Chen¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.24, No.2&3, pp. 203-214, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.024.203

Abstract This paper presents the application of an atomistic field theory (AFT) in modeling and simulation of boron- , boron/nitrogen and silicon/nitrogen-doped nanocrystalline silicon carbide (B-, BN-, SiN-SiC). Intergranular glassy films (IGFs) and nano-sized pores have been obtained in triple junctions of the grains in nanocrystalline SiC (nc-SiC). Residual tensile stress in the SiC grains and compressive stress in the grain boundaries (GBs) are observed. Under uniaxial tension, the constitutive responses of nanocrystalline SiC were reproduced from the simulations. It is found that the mechanical properties of nanocrystalline SiC are strongly dependent on the compositions of More >

H. Nguyen-Van¹, N. Mai-Duy², T. Tran-Cong³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.23, No.3, pp. 209-222, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.023.209

Abstract This paper reports a study of linear elastic analysis of two-dimensional piezoelectric structures using a smoothed four-node piezoelectric element. The element is built by incorporating the strain smoothing method of mesh-free conforming nodal integration into the standard four-node quadrilateral piezoelectric finite element. The approximations of mechanical strains and electric potential fields are normalized using a constant smoothing function. This allows the field gradients to be directly computed from shape functions. No mapping or coordinate transformation is necessary so that the element can be used in arbitrary shapes. Through several examples, the simplicity, efficiency and reliability More >

Walter Gerstle¹, Stewart Silling², David Read³, Vinod Tewary⁴, Richard Lehoucq⁵

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.8, No.2, pp. 75-92, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2008.008.075

Abstract A theoretical framework, based upon the peridynamic model, is presented for analytical and computational simulation of electromigration. The framework allows four coupled physical processes to be modeled simultaneously: mechanical deformation, heat transfer, electrical potential distribution, and vacancy diffusion. The dynamics of void and crack formation, and hillock and whisker growth can potentially be modeled. The framework can potentially be applied at several modeling scales: atomistic, crystallite, multiple crystallite, and macro. The conceptual simplicity of the model promises to permit many phenomena observed in microchips, including electromigration, thermo-mechanical crack formation, and fatigue crack formation, to be More >

Huanchun Chen¹, Kunigal Shivakumar¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.8, No.1, pp. 33-42, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2008.008.033

Abstract Thermal cycling degradation effect on tensile and flexural properties of Cytec T650 carbon/Lonza Primaset PT-30 cyanate ester composite rods used for gas turbine engine brush seals was evaluated. The composite rods were thermal cycled in air from room temperature to 315°C for 100, 200, 400, 600 and 800 cycles. Each thermal cycle is a one hour period with 28 minutes hold at peak temperature and a high heating/cooling rate of 73°C/min. The composite withstood the first 100 thermal cycles with less than 10% property change. After that, tensile strength and fracture strain as well as More >

Arnab Chakrabarty¹, Tahir Çağin¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 167-190, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2008.007.167

Abstract The excellent set of properties of carbon nanotube and carbon nanotube-based nanostructures has been established by various studies. However the claimed property values and trends have not been unanimously agreed upon. Using state of the art molecular dynamics and ab initio methods, we have extensively studied the mechanical, thermal and structural properties of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube based nanostructures. Additionally this study aims to address the approaches used in various studies to assess the validity and influence of various definitions used for determining the physical properties as reported in earlier experiments and theoretical calculations.… More >