Title:
Geometric discretization schemes and differential complexes for elasticity

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Angoshtari, Arzhang
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Yavari, Arash
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Abstract
In this research, we study two different geometric approaches, namely, the discrete exterior calculus and differential complexes, for developing numerical schemes for linear and nonlinear elasticity. Using some ideas from discrete exterior calculus (DEC), we present a geometric discretization scheme for incompressible linearized elasticity. After characterizing the configuration manifold of volume- preserving discrete deformations, we use Hamilton’s principle on this configuration manifold. The discrete Euler-Lagrange equations are obtained without using Lagrange multipliers. The main difference between our approach and the mixed finite element formulations is that we simultaneously use three different discrete spaces for the displacement field. We test the efficiency and robustness of this geometric scheme using some numerical examples. In particular, we do not see any volume locking and/or checkerboarding of pressure in our numerical examples. This suggests that our choice of discrete solution spaces is compatible. On the other hand, it has been observed that the linear elastostatics complex can be used to find very efficient numerical schemes. We use some geometric techniques to obtain differential complexes for nonlinear elastostatics. In particular, by introducing stress functions for the Cauchy and the second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensors, we show that 2D and 3D nonlinear elastostatics admit separate kinematic and kinetic complexes. We show that stress functions corresponding to the first Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor allow us to write a complex for 3D nonlinear elastostatics that similar to the complex of 3D linear elastostatics contains both the kinematics an kinetics of motion. We study linear and nonlinear compatibility equations for curved ambient spaces and motions of surfaces in R3. We also study the relationship between the linear elastostatics complex and the de Rham complex. The geometric approach presented in this research is crucial for understanding connections between linear and nonlinear elastostatics and the Hodge Laplacian, which can enable one to convert numerical schemes of the Hodge Laplacian to those for linear and possibly nonlinear elastostatics.
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2013-05-15
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