This book is a tutorial written by researchers and developers behind the FEniCS Project and explores an advanced, expressive approach to the development of mathematical software. The presentation spans mathematical background, software design and the use of FEniCS in applications. Theoretical aspects are complemented with computer code which is available as free/open source software. The book begins with a special introductory tutorial for beginners. Followingare chapters in Part I addressing fundamental aspects of the approach to automating the creation of finite element solvers. Chapters in Part II address the design and implementation of the FEnicS software. Chapters in Part III present the application of FEniCS to a wide range of applications, including fluid flow, solid mechanics, electromagnetics and geophysics.

Automated Solution of Differential Equations by the Finite Element Method: The FEniCS Book

An overview of the extended/generalized finite element method (GEFM/XFEM) with emphasis on methodological issues is presented. This method enables the accurate approximation of solutions that involve jumps, kinks, singularities, and other locally non-smooth features within elements. This is achieved by enriching the polynomial approximation space of the classical finite element method. The GEFM/XFEM has shown its potential in a variety of applications that involve non-smooth solutions near interfaces: Among them are the simulation of cracks, shear bands, dislocations, solidification, and multi-field problems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The extended/generalized finite element method: An overview of the method and its applications

The extended and generalized finite element methods are reviewed with an emphasis on their applications to problems in material science: (1) fracture, (2) dislocations, (3) grain boundaries and (4) phases interfaces. These methods facilitate the modeling of complicated geometries and the evolution of such geometries, particularly when combined with level set methods, as for example in the simulation growing cracks or moving phase interfaces. The state of the art for these problems is described along with the history of developments.

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A review of extended/generalized finite element methods for material modeling

A new method for modelling of arbitrary dynamic crack and shear band propagation is presented. We show that by a rearrangement of the extended finite element basis and the nodal degrees of freedom, the discontinuity can be described by superposed elements and phantom nodes. Cracks are treated by adding phantom nodes and superposing elements on the original mesh. Shear bands are treated by adding phantom degrees of freedom. The proposed method simplifies the treatment of element-by-element crack and shear band propagation in explicit methods. A quadrature method for 4-node quadrilaterals is proposed based on a single quadrature point and hourglass control. The proposed method provides consistent history variables because it does not use a subdomain integration scheme for the discontinuous integrand. Numerical examples for dynamic crack and shear band propagation are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A method for dynamic crack and shear band propagation with phantom nodes

An extended finite element method scheme for a static cohesive crack is developed with a new formulation for elements containing crack tips. This method can treat arbitrary cracks independent of the mesh and crack growth without remeshing. All cracked elements are enriched by the sign function so that no blending of the local partition of unity is required. This method is able to treat the entire crack with only one type of enrichment function, including the elements containing the crack tip. This scheme is applied to linear 3-node triangular elements and quadratic 6-node triangular elements. To ensure smooth crack closing of the cohesive crack, the stress projection normal to the crack tip is imposed to be equal to the material strength. The equilibrium equation and the traction condition are solved by the Newton–Raphson method to obtain the nodal displacements and the external load simultaneously. The results obtained by the new extended finite element method are compared to reference solutions and show excellent agreement. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New crack-tip elements for XFEM and applications to cohesive cracks

For computational efficiency, partition of unity enrichments are preferably localized to the sub-domains where they are needed. It is shown that an appropriate construction of the elements in the blending area, the regionwhere the enriched elements blend to unenriched elements, is often crucial for good performance of local partition of unity enrichments. An enhanced strain formulation is developed which leads to good performance; the optimal rate of convergence is achieved. For polynomial enrichments, it is shown that a proper choice of the finite element shape functions and partition of unity shape functions also improves the accuracy and convergence. The methods are illustrated by several examples. The examples deal primarily with the signed distance function enrichment for treating discontinuous derivatives inside an element, but other enrichments are also considered. Results show that both methods provide optimal rates of convergence.

On the construction of blending elements for local partition of unity enriched finite elements

An enriched finite element method for the multi-dimensional Stefan problems is presented. In this method the standard finite element basis is enriched with a discontinuity in the derivative of the temperature normal to the interface. The approximation can then represent the phase interface and the associated discontinuity in the temperature gradient within an element. The phase interface can be evolved without re-meshing or the use of artificial heat capacity techniques. The interface is described by a level set function that is updated by a stabilized finite element scheme. Several examples are solved by the proposed method to demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The extended finite element method (XFEM) for solidification problems

An extended finite element method with arbitrary interior discontinuous gradients is applied to two-phase immiscible flow problems. The discontinuity in the derivative of the velocity field is introduced by an enrichment with an extended basis whose gradient is discontinuous across the interface. Therefore, the finite element approximation can capture the discontinuities at the interface without requiring the mesh to conform to the interface, eliminating the need for remeshing. The equations for incompressible flow are solved by a fractional step method where the advection terms are stabilized by a characteristic Galerkin method. The phase interfaces are tracked by level set functions which are discretized by the same finite element mesh and are updated via a stabilized conservation law. The method is demonstrated in several examples

An Extended Finite Element Method for Two-Phase Fluids

A finite element method for linear elastic fracture mechanics using enriched quadratic interpolations is presented. The quadratic finite elements are enriched with the asymptotic near tip displacement solutions and the Heaviside function so that the finite element approximation is capable of resolving the singular stress field at the crack tip as well as the jump in the displacement field across the crack face without any significant mesh refinement. The geometry of the crack is represented by a level set function which is interpolated on the same quadratic finite element discretization. Due to the higher-order approximation for the crack description we are able to represent a crack with curvature. The method is verified on several examples and comparisons are made to similar formulations using linear interpolants.

Jack Chessa

Papers

On the construction of blending elements for local partition of unity enriched finite elements

The extended finite element method (XFEM) for solidification problems

An Extended Finite Element Method for Two-Phase Fluids

An extended finite element method with higher-order elements for curved cracks

An Eulerian–Lagrangian method for fluid–structure interaction based on level sets