A Study of Optimal Membrane Triangles with Drilling Freedoms

Carlos A. Felippa
Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and Center for Aerospace Structures University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0429, USA
Presentation to FEM Minisymposium USNCCM7, Albuquerque, July 2003
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Here is a Well Known Distortion Benchmark

UBOTP (UniDirectional Bending-Optimal Trapezoidal Panel) Passes the patch test on any mesh Retains a bounded condition number, even for a triangle!
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Outline
Why drilling freedoms

Element development
Finding the best

Templates
Conclusions

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Presentation Source
Technical details in expository paper:
C. A. Felippa, A study of optimal membrane triangles with drilling freedoms, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg., 192, 2125-2168, 2003

Reprints available here

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

High Performance Elements - Definition

Simple elements that deliver results of engineering accuracy with arbitrary coarse meshes

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

(Personal) Preferences for HP Elements (1)

- only corner nodes - only physical freedoms

- passes patch test on any plane mesh

- no condensation: EAS, incompatible modes etc, are waste of time

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

(Personal) Preferences for HP Elements (2)

- do not assume you can refine the mesh in real engineering systems - robust when used by inexperienced modelers

- can be customized to do multiple duties

- can be optimized for specific criteria - develop by symbolic computation
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Membrane Elements with Drilling DOFs

Interesting as HPFEM because - Performance improved without adding side DOFs - Rotational DOF free of charge - Simplifies shell modeling: intersections, stiffeners, ..
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

18 DOF Thin Shell Triangle Template

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F-16 Aeroelastic Structural Model

Finest model: 250000 Nodes, 1.5 M DOF

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

F-16 Internal Structure Zoom

Over 95% of elements are 18-DOF triangle shell elements, including stiffeners

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Customization Example: Aerospace Structures

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

A Brief History of Drilling DOFs

Late 1960s: rectangles developed @ Berkeley (by Scordelis students) 1979: 1984: 1985: quadrilateral shell element @ Lockheed for STAGS Allman triangle, works but rank deficient Bergan-Felippa FF triangle, rank sufficient but complicated 1970-1984: many efforts to construct satisfactory triangles fail

1988:
1992: 2002:

Allmans rank-sufficient triangle

Felippa-Militello ANDES triangle, bending optimal placed in template framework

Since 1992: many more models

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Template Approach for Element Stiffness

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

The Basic Stiffness (disc. 1984, Pal Bergan)

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

HO Stiffness by ANDES: (1) Choosing Natural Strains

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

HO Stiffness by ANDES: (2) Define Hierarchical Rotations

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

HO Stiffness by ANDES: (3) Pick Hierarchical Strain Modes

Filter torsion mode:

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

HO Stiffness by ANDES: (4) Parametrize and Finish Up

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Mathematica Implementation

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Fortran Version
Freely available: contact author by e-mail ~350000 elements/sec on a 3GHz P4 (DP float) Eventual goal: 1 million elements/sec Membrane takes about 35% of formation time of 18 DOF linear shell element, 25% of corotational shell

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Bending Optimality Criterion

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Confirmation: Morphing to Beam

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

ANDES Template Instances

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

ANDES Template Signatures

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

ANDES Bending Energy Test

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

ANDES Thin Cantilever Example

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Berkeley Cantilever

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Berkeley Cantilever Results

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Cooks Trapezoidal Wing

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Cooks Trapezoidal Wing Results

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Constructing HP Elements - 3 Approaches

Templates

Fig from CMAME 192, 2125-2168, 2003

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Constructing HP Elements - 3 Approaches

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

The Template Approach

Element equations (stiffness, mass, etc) are directly constructed as parametrized algebraic forms The construction is done in two stages: basic and higher order components Constraints (e.g., orthogonality) are enforced between the components to insure a priori satisfaction of the patch test without need of a posteriori checks
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Template Genetics
The set of free parameters is the template signature The number of free parameters can be reduced by applying behavioral constraints to produce element families

Specific elements instances are obtained by assigning numerical values to the free parameters of a family Elements with the same signature, possibly derived through different methods, are called clones
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Advantages of Template Approach

One form generates an infinite # of instances

Instances are not necessarily obtainable by conventional (variational based) formulations

Unified implementation (input: signature) weeds out clones, simplifies benchmarking Can be customized, or optimized, for specific configurations or needs
University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Technical Difficulties
Limited theory available

Symbolic manipulations beyond human endurance. Only possible via computer algebra systems. Memory and CPU power limitations have so far restricted template development to
1D: 2-node beams 2D: 3-node triangles (membrane + plate bending combined for shell elements with drilling freedoms)

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu

Web Resources
If interested in FE templates, see material posted at
http://caswww.colorado.edu/Felippa.d/Home.html -> Papers and Reports

University of Colorado - Dept of Aerospace Engrg. Sci. & Center for Aerospace Structures caswww.colorado.edu