Yujie Zheng and Meiyan Li
Improving the prediction accuracy of design time for complex products is significant for improving the accuracy of product development and control plans. The purpose of this study…
Abstract
Purpose
Improving the prediction accuracy of design time for complex products is significant for improving the accuracy of product development and control plans. The purpose of this study is to propose an intelligent pre-estimation method of design time for complex products based on v-SVM.
Design/methodology/approach
First, an evaluation model for designer knowledge abilities based on v-SVM is built, which considers the fuzziness and dynamics of designer knowledge abilities. Next, a pre-estimation method for the design time of complex products based on v-SVM is built. This method takes into account the impacts of designer knowledge abilities and design task characteristics on the design time. Then, an adaptive genetic algorithm is programmed to optimize the parameters in the evaluation model and the pre-estimation method. Finally, a practical application and comparative analysis of the proposed pre-estimation method is suggested to verify the validity and applicability of this research.
Findings
First, the evaluation of designer knowledge abilities is a prediction problem that is both fuzzy and multivariate time series. Second, the pre-estimation of design time is a problem that is fuzzy and multivariate. Third, the pre-estimation accuracy of the proposed method is higher when compared with traditional methods.
Originality/value
This paper presents an intelligent pre-estimation method of design time for complex products. Unlike previous research, the pre-estimation method takes into account the impacts of both the designer knowledge abilities and the design task characteristics on the design time.
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Song Cen, Cheng Jin Wu, Zhi Li, Yan Shang and Chenfeng Li
The purpose of this paper is to give a review on the newest developments of high-performance finite element methods (FEMs), and exhibit the recent contributions achieved by the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give a review on the newest developments of high-performance finite element methods (FEMs), and exhibit the recent contributions achieved by the authors’ group, especially showing some breakthroughs against inherent difficulties existing in the traditional FEM for a long time.
Design/methodology/approach
Three kinds of new FEMs are emphasized and introduced, including the hybrid stress-function element method, the hybrid displacement-function element method for Mindlin–Reissner plate and the improved unsymmetric FEM. The distinguished feature of these three methods is that they all apply the fundamental analytical solutions of elasticity expressed in different coordinates as their trial functions.
Findings
The new FEMs show advantages from both analytical and numerical approaches. All the models exhibit outstanding capacity for resisting various severe mesh distortions, and even perform well when other models cannot work. Some difficulties in the history of FEM are also broken through, such as the limitations defined by MacNeal’s theorem and the edge-effect problems of Mindlin–Reissner plate.
Originality/value
These contributions possess high value for solving the difficulties in engineering computations, and promote the progress of FEM.
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Yan Shang, Song Cen and Wengen Ouyan
The purpose of this paper is to propose a new finite element method (FEM) solving strategy for efficient analysis of the challenging edge effect problem in plate structures. Its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a new finite element method (FEM) solving strategy for efficient analysis of the challenging edge effect problem in plate structures. Its main ideas are to develop special-purpose plate element models to effectively simulate the behaviors in the plate’s edge zones near free/SS1 edges.
Design/methodology/approach
These new elements are developed based on the hybrid-Trefftz element method. During their construction procedures, the analytical solutions of the edge effect problem, which are in exponential forms, are used to enhance the interior displacement fields. Besides, the Lagrangian multipliers are introduced into the modified hybrid-Trefftz functional for considering the stress resultant constraints at free/SS1 edges. Thus, these elements theoretically possess the abilities to correctly capture the very steep gradients of the resultant distributions in the boundary layers.
Findings
These new specialized hybrid-Trefftz plate elements can very efficiently solve the edge effect problem with high accuracy, even when distorted meshes are used. Moreover, because these elements’ construction procedures contain only boundary integrals, the computation expense for accurately integrating the exponential trial functions can be considerably saved.
Originality/value
This work presents an alternative novel idea for using the FEM to more effectively handle the local stress problems by incorporating the use of the analytical trial functions.
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The paper aims to propose two new 8-node quadrilateral membrane elements with good distortion tolerance for the modified couple stress elasticity based on the unsymmetric finite…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to propose two new 8-node quadrilateral membrane elements with good distortion tolerance for the modified couple stress elasticity based on the unsymmetric finite element method (FEM).
Design/methodology/approach
The nodal rotation degrees of freedom (DOFs) are introduced into the virtual work principle and constrained by the penalty function for approximating the test functions of the physical rotation and curvature. Therefore, only the C0 continuity instead of C1 continuity is required for the displacement during the element construction. The first unsymmetric element assumes the test functions of the displacement and strain using the standard 8-node isoparametric interpolations, while these test functions in the second model are further enhanced by the nodal rotation DOFs. Besides, the trial functions in these two elements are constructed based on the stress functions that can a priori satisfy related governing equations.
Findings
The benchmark tests show that both the two elements can efficiently simulate the size-dependent plane problems, exhibiting good numerical accuracies and high distortion tolerances. In particular, they can still exactly reproduce the constant couple stress state when the element shape deteriorates severely into the degenerated triangle. Moreover, it can also be observed that the second element model, in which the linked interpolation technique is used, has better performance than the first one, especially in capturing the steep gradients of the physical rotations.
Originality/value
As the proposed new elements use only three DOFs per node, they can be readily incorporated into the existing finite element (FE) programs. Thus, they are of great benefit to analysis of size-dependent membrane behaviors of micro/nano structures.
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Yan Shang, Song Cen, Zheng-Hua Qian and Chenfeng Li
This paper aims to propose a simple but robust three-node triangular membrane element with rational drilling DOFs for efficiently analyzing plane problems.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a simple but robust three-node triangular membrane element with rational drilling DOFs for efficiently analyzing plane problems.
Design/methodology/approach
This new element is developed within the general framework of unsymmetric FEM. The element test functions are determined by using a conforming displacement field which is slightly different with the classical Allman’s interpolations, while a self-equilibrated stress field formulated based on the analytical airy stress solutions is adopted as the trial functions. To ensure the correctness between the drilling DOFs and the true rotations in elasticity, reasonable constraints are introduced through the penalty function method. Moreover, the special quadrature strategy is used for operating related integrations for future enrichment of element behavior.
Findings
Numerical benchmark tests reveal that this new triangular membrane element has exceptional prediction capabilities. In particular, this element can correctly reproduce a rigid body rotation motion and correctly undertake the external in-plane twisting moments; thus, it is a reasonable choice for being used to formulate flat shell elements or to be connected with other kind of elements with physical rotational DOFs.
Originality/value
This work provides a new approach for developing high-performance lower-order elements with simple formulations and good numerical accuracies.
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Songhao Wang, Zhenghua Qian and Yan Shang
The paper aims to the size-dependent analysis of functionally graded materials in thermal environment based on the modified couple stress theory using finite element method.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to the size-dependent analysis of functionally graded materials in thermal environment based on the modified couple stress theory using finite element method.
Design/methodology/approach
The element formulation is developed within the framework of the penalty unsymmetric finite element method (FEM) in that the C1 continuity requirement is satisfied in weak sense and thus, C0 continuous interpolation enhanced by independent nodal rotation is employed as the test function. Meanwhile, the trial function is designed based on the stress functions and the weighted residual method. Besides, the special Gauss quadrature scheme is employed for integrals of matrices in accordance with the graded variation of the material properties.
Findings
The numerical results reveal that in thermal environment, functionally graded materials exhibit better bending performance compared to homogeneous materials, Moreover, the findings also indicate that with an increase in MLSP, the natural frequencies of out-of-plane modes gradually increase, while the natural frequencies of in-plane modes show much less variation, leading to a mode switch phenomenon.
Originality/value
The work provides an efficient numerical tool for analyzing and designing the functionally graded structures in thermal environment in practical engineering applications.
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Yihui Da, Guirong Dong, Yan Shang, Bin Wang, Dianzi Liu and Zhenghua Qian
Quantitatively detecting surface defects in a circular annulus with high levels of accuracy and efficiency has been paid more attention by researchers. The purpose of this study…
Abstract
Purpose
Quantitatively detecting surface defects in a circular annulus with high levels of accuracy and efficiency has been paid more attention by researchers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the theoretical dispersion equations for circumferential guided waves and then develop an efficient technique for accurate reconstruction of defects in pipes.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology applied to determine defects in pipelines includes four steps. First, the theoretical work is carried out by developing the appropriate dispersion equations for circumferential guided waves in a pipe. In this phase, formulations of strain-displacement relations are derived in a general equidistant surface coordinate. Following that, a semi-analytical finite element method (SAFEM) is applied to solve the dispersion equations. Then, the scattered fields in a circular annulus are calculated using the developed hybrid finite element method and simulation results are in accord with the law of conservation of energy. Finally, the quantitative detection of Fourier transform (QDFT) approach is further enhanced to efficiently reconstruct the defects in the circular annuli, which have been widely used for engineering applications.
Findings
Results obtained from four numerical examples of flaw detection problems demonstrate the correctness of the developed QDFT approach in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Reconstruction of circumferential surface defects using the extended QDFT method can be performed without involving the analytical formulations. Therefore, the streamlined process of inspecting surface defects is well established and this leads to the reduced time in practical engineering tests.
Originality/value
In this paper, the general dispersion equations for circumferential ultrasonic guided waves have been derived using an equidistant surface coordinate and solved by the SAFEM technique to discover the relationship between wavenumber of a wave and its frequency. To reconstruct defects with high levels of accuracy and efficiency, the QDFT approach has been further enhanced to inspect defects in the annular structure.
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Yan Shang, Song Cen and Chenfeng Li
The purpose of this paper is to propose an efficient low-order quadrilateral flat shell element that possesses all outstanding advantages of novel shape-free plate bending and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an efficient low-order quadrilateral flat shell element that possesses all outstanding advantages of novel shape-free plate bending and plane membrane elements proposed recently.
Design/methodology/approach
By assembling a shape-free quadrilateral hybrid displacement-function (HDF) plate bending element HDF-P4-11β (Cen et al. 2014) and a shape-free quadrilateral hybrid stress-function (HSF) plane membrane element HSF-Q4θ-7β (Cen et al. 2011b) with drilling degrees of freedom, a new 4-node, 24-DOF (6 DOFs per node) quadrilateral flat shell element is successfully constructed. The trial functions for resultant/stress fields within the element are derived from the analytical solutions of displacement and stress functions for plate bending and plane problems, respectively, so that they can a priori satisfy the related governing equations. Furthermore, in order to take the influences of moderately warping geometry into consideration, the rigid link correction strategy (Taylor 1987) is also employed.
Findings
The element stiffness matrix of a new simple 4-node, 24-DOF quadrilateral flat shell element is obtained. The resulting models, denoted as HDF-SH4, not only possesses all advantages of original HDF plate and HSF plane elements when analyzing plate and plane structures, but also exhibits good performances for analyses of complicated spatial shell structures. Especially, it is quite insensitive to mesh distortions.
Originality/value
This work presents a new scheme, which can take the advantages of both analytical and discrete methods, to develop low-order mesh-distortion resistant flat shell elements.
Yan Li, Yuanyuan Qu, Yunjiu Zhang and Qingling Li
This paper aims to develop resonant vibratory gyroscopes for high sensitive detection. The dynamic characteristics of resonant vibratory gyroscopes are investigated.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop resonant vibratory gyroscopes for high sensitive detection. The dynamic characteristics of resonant vibratory gyroscopes are investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, the working principle and the dynamic output characteristics of the resonant vibratory gyroscope could be described by the damped Mathieu equation. Moreover, an approximate analytical method based on the small parameter perturbation has been used for the purpose of investigating the approximate solution of the damped Mathieu equation. Finally, to verify the feasibility of the approximate analytical method of the damped Mathieu equation, dynamic output characteristics’ experiments of the resonant vibratory gyroscope are built.
Findings
The theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that the approximate solution of the damped Mathieu equation is close to the dynamic output characteristics of the resonant vibratory gyroscope. On the other hand, it is concluded from the tested result that there exists a correlation between the theoretical curve and the experimental data processing result, meaning the damped dynamics analytical method is effective in building resonant vibratory gyroscopes.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to establish a foundation for optimizing and testing the performance of the resonant vibratory gyroscope. To this end, the approximate analytical method of the damped Mathieu equation was discussed. The result of this research has proved that the dynamic characteristics based on the damped Mathieu equation is an effective approach and is instructional in the practical resonant sensor design.
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Lei Xu, Zhencai Zhu, Guoan Chen and Chao Qu
The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the effect of applied load and sliding velocity on the tribological behaviors of aramid fiber (AF) reinforced PA1010 which can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the effect of applied load and sliding velocity on the tribological behaviors of aramid fiber (AF) reinforced PA1010 which can be a potential material for transmission components.
Design/methodology/approach
The PA1010 composites with different content of AF are prepared and the tribology experiments are conducted on a block‐on‐ring wear tester under different experiment conditions. The wear mechanism of the composite is examined by means of scanning electron microscopy.
Findings
The addition of AF decreased the friction coefficient of PA1010 and increased its wear resistance. For optimal tribological properties 5∼15 wt% AF is preferred, while the wear resistance is best at 15 wt%. The friction coefficient decreased with increasing load and sliding velocity, but it is more sensitive to load. The main wear mechanism is abrasive wear at relatively low load and sliding velocity. With the increasing of load, the adhesive wear occurs in the matrix, meanwhile obvious fibrillation and layer peeling are observed on the fiber. When the sliding velocity increases, thermal adhesion and fiber debonding is the dominant mechanism.
Practical implications
PA1010 is a useful material for the alternative material of transmission components in industry.
Originality/value
PA1010 composite is prepared with a new kind of AF fiber and the tribology experiments have been carried out emphasizing on the variation of experiment conditions. The results could be useful for the material engineers.