• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.3
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• pp.311-324
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• 2023

Herein, we present effective polygonal finite elements to which the strain-smoothed element (SSE) method is applied. Recently, the SSE method has been developed for conventional triangular and quadrilateral finite elements; furthermore, it has been shown to improve the performance of finite elements. Polygonal elements enable various applications through flexible mesh handling; however, further development is still required to use them more effectively in engineering practice. In this study, piecewise linear shape functions are adopted, the SSE method is applied through the triangulation of polygonal elements, and a smoothed strain field is constructed within the element. The strain-smoothed polygonal elements pass basic tests and show improved convergence behaviors in various numerical problems.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.91-102
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• 1995

For the wave propagation problems, the influence of time-dependent dynamic behavior must be accounted in the analysis. In this study, the dynamic analysis method which combines finite elements and boundary elements is developed for the wave propagation problem modelling the infinity of medium through 3-D boundary elements and underground structure through degenerated finite shell elements. Performing dynamic analysis of underground tunnels by the proposed coupling method of boundary and finite elements, it is found that the change of the stiffness of structures has a good effect on the response. It is also found that the consideration of the repeating effect due to moving traffic loads which is difficult with existing 2-D dynamic analysis can be possible with the 3-D analysis in time domain.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.324-329
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• 2001

A novel method for non-matching interfaces on the boundaries of the finite elements in partitioned domains is presented by introducing interface elements in this paper. The interface element method (IEM) satisfies the continuity conditions exactly through interfaces without recourse to the Lagrange multiplier technique. The moving least square (MLS) approximation in the present study is implemented to construct the shape functions of the interface elements. Alignment of the boundaries of sub-domains in the MLS approximation and integration domains provides a consistent numerical integration due to one form of rational functions in an integration domain. The compatibility of displacements on the boundaries of the finite elements and the interface elements is always preserved in this method, and the completeness of the shape functions of the interface elements guarantees the convergence of numerical solutions. The numerical examples show that the interface element method is a useful tool for the analysis of a partitioned system and for a global-local analysis.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.84-92
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• 2000

In this paper, numerical scattering analysis for submerged scatterers is performed using finite and infinite elements. Unbounded domain is truncated into finite domain and finite elements are used in the domain. Infinite elements, So called Infinite Wave Envelope Elements (IWEE) which possess wave-like behavior, are used to take into account the infinite domain on the truncated boundary Scattering from rigid sphere is taken as an example and the effects of the order and mesh size of finite elements, size of finite element model and the order of IWEE are investigated. Quadratic finite element, refined mesh and higher order IWEE are recommended to improve the non-reflection boundary condition in the numerical scattering analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.659-676
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• 2010

An energy-based fatigue life prediction framework was previously developed by the authors for prediction of axial and bending fatigue life at various stress ratios. The framework for the prediction of fatigue life via energy analysis was based on a new constitutive law, which states the following: the amount of energy required to fracture a material is constant. In this study, the energy expressions that construct the new constitutive law are integrated into minimum potential energy formulation to develop new finite elements for uniaxial and bending fatigue life prediction. The comparison of finite element method (FEM) results to existing experimental fatigue data, verifies the new finite elements for fatigue life prediction. The final output of this finite element analysis is in the form of number of cycles to failure for each element in ascending or descending order. Therefore, the new finite element framework can provide the number of cycles to failure for each element in structural components. The performance of the fatigue finite elements is demonstrated by the fatigue life predictions from Al6061-T6 aluminum and Ti-6Al-4V. Results are compared with experimental results and analytical predictions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2002

Although the finite element method has become an indispensible tool for the dynamic analysis of structures, difficulty remains to quantify the errors associated with discretization. To improve the modeling accuracy, this paper proposes a method to make a combined use of finite elements and exact dynamic elements. Exact interpolation functions for the Timoshenko beam element are derived using the exact dynamic element modeling (EDEM) and compared with interpolation functions of the finite element method (FEM). The exact interpolation functions are tested with the Laplace variable varied. A combined use of finite element method and exact interpolation functions is presented to gain more accurate mode shape functions. This paper also presents a combined use of finite elements and exact dynamic elements in design/reanalysis problems. Timoshenko flames with tapered sections are tested to demonstrate the design procedure with the proposed method. The numerical study shows that the combined use of finite element model and exact dynamic element model is very useful.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.487-504
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• 2006

Several new versatile two-dimensional p-version finite elements are developed. The element matrices are integrated analytically to guarantee the accuracy and monotonic convergence of the predicted solutions of the proposed p-version elements. The analysis results show that the convergence rate of the present elements is very fast with respect to the number of additional Fourier or polynomial terms in shape functions, and their solutions are much more accurate than those of the linear finite elements for the same number of degrees of freedom. Additionally, the new p-version plate elements without the reduced integration can overcome the shear locking problem over the conventional h-version elements. Using the proposed p-version elements with fast convergent characteristic, the elasto-plastic impact of the structure attached with the absorber is simulated. Good agreement between the simulated and experimental results verifies the present p-version finite elements for the analyses of structural dynamic responses and the structural elasto-plastic impact. Further, using the elasto-plastic impact model and the p-version finite element method, the absorber of the T structure on the Qiantang River is designed for its collision protection.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.659-665
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• 2010

The finite element method(FEM) is proven to be an effective approximate method of structural analysis if proper element types and meshes are chosen, and recently, the method is often applied to solve complex dynamic and nonlinear problems. A properly chosen element type and mesh yields reliable results for dynamic finite element structural analysis. However, dynamic behavior of a structure may include unpredictably large strains in some parts of the structure, and using the initial mesh throughout the duration of a dynamic analysis may include some elements to go through strains beyond the elements' reliable limits. Thus, the finite element mesh for a dynamic analysis must be dynamically adaptive, and considering the rapid process of analysis in real time, the dynamically adaptive finite element mesh generating schemes must be computationally efficient. In this paper, a computationally efficient dynamically adaptive finite element mesh generation scheme for dynamic analyses of structures is described. The concept of representative strain value is used for error estimates and the refinements of meshes use combinations of the h-method(node movement) and the r-method(element division). The shape coefficient for element mesh is used to correct overly distorted elements. The validity of the scheme is shown through a cantilever beam example under a concentrated load with varying values. The example shows reasonable accuracy and efficient computing time. Furthermore, the study shows the potential for the scheme's effective use in complex structural dynamic problems such as those under seismic or erratic wind loads.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.29-42
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• 2017

The purpose of the present study is the presentation of the appropriate element and shape function in the solution of the neutron diffusion equation in two-dimensional (2D) geometries. To this end, the multigroup neutron diffusion equation is solved using the Galerkin finite element method in both rectangular and hexagonal reactor cores. The spatial discretization of the equation is performed using unstructured triangular and quadrilateral finite elements. Calculations are performed using both linear and quadratic approximations of shape function in the Galerkin finite element method, based on which results are compared. Using the power iteration method, the neutron flux distributions with the corresponding eigenvalue are obtained. The results are then validated against the valid results for IAEA-2D and BIBLIS-2D benchmark problems. To investigate the dependency of the results to the type and number of the elements, and shape function order, a sensitivity analysis of the calculations to the mentioned parameters is performed. It is shown that the triangular elements and second order of the shape function in each element give the best results in comparison to the other states.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.657-678
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• 2018

Sandwich structures are well known for their use in aircraft, naval and automobile industries due to their high strength resistance with light weight and high energy absorption capability. Sandwich beams with soft core are very common and simple structures that are employed in day to day general use appliances. Modeling and analysis of sandwich structures is not straight forward due to the interactions between core and face sheets. In this paper, formulation of Super Convergent finite elements for analysis of the sandwich beams with soft core based on Euler Bernoulli beam theory are presented. Two elements, Eul4d with 4 degrees of freedom assuming rigid core in transverse direction and Eul10d with 10 degrees of freedom assuming the flexible core were developed are presented. The formulation considers the top, bottom face sheets and core as separate entities and are coupled by beam kinematics. The performance of these elements are validated by results available in the published literature. Number of studies are performed using the formulated elements in static, free vibration and wave propagation analysis involving various boundary and loading conditions. The paper highlights the advantages of the elements developed over the traditional elements for modeling of sandwich beams and, in particular wave propagation analysis.