Sierra/SolidMechanics (Sierra/SM) is a Lagrangian, three-dimensional finite element analysis code for solids and structures subjected to extensive contact and large deformations, encompassing explicit and implicit dynamic as well as quasistatic loading regimes. This document supplements the primary Sierra/SM 4.54 User's Guide, describing capabilities specific to Goodyear analysis use cases, including additional implicit solver options, material models, finite element formulations, and contact settings.
Presented in this document is a small portion of the tests that exist in the Sierra/SolidMechanics (Sierra/SM) verification test suite. Most of these tests are run nightly with the Sierra/SM code suite, and the results of the test are checked versus the correct analytical result. For each of the tests presented in this document, the test setup, a description of the analytic solution, and comparison of the Sierra/SM code results to the analytic solution is provided. Mesh convergence is also checked on a nightly basis for several of these tests. This document can be used to confirm that a given code capability is verified or referenced as a compilation of example problems. Additional example problems are provided in the Sierra/SM Example Problems Manual. Note, many other verification tests exist in the Sierra/SM test suite, but have not yet been included in this manual.
This user’s guide documents capabilities in Sierra/SolidMechanics which remain “in-development” and thus are not tested and hardened to the standards of capabilities listed in Sierra/SM 4.54 User’s Guide. Capabilities documented herein are available in Sierra/SM for experimental use only until their official release. These capabilities include, but are not limited to, novel discretization approaches such as peridynamics and the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM), numerical fracture and failure modeling aids such as the extended finite element method (XFEM) and /-integral, explicit time step control techniques, dynamic mesh rebalancing, as well as a variety of new material models and finite element formulations.
This is an addendum to the Sierra/SolidMechanics 4.54 User's Guide that documents additional capabilities available only in alternate versions of the Sierra/SolidMechanics (Sierra/SM) code. These alternate versions are enhanced to provide capabilities that are regulated under the U.S. Department of State's International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) export control rules. The ITAR regulated codes are only distributed to entities that comply with the ITAR export control requirements. The ITAR enhancements to Sierra/SM include material models with an energy-dependent pressure response (appropriate for very large deformations and strain rates) and capabilities for blast modeling. This document is an addendum only; the standard Sierra/SolidMechanics 4.54 User's Guide should be referenced for most general descriptions of code capability and use.
The integrity of engineering structures is often compromised by embedded surfaces that result from incomplete bonding during the manufacturing process, or initiation of damage from fatigue or impact processes. Examples include delaminations in composite materials, incomplete weld bonds when joining two components, and internal crack planes that may form when a structure is damaged. In many cases the areas of the structure in question may not be easily accessible, thus precluding the direct assessment of structural integrity. In this paper, we present a gradient-based, partial differential equation (PDE)-constrained optimization approach for solving the inverse problem of interface detection in the context of steady-state dynamics. An objective function is defined that represents the difference between the model predictions of structural response at a set of spatial locations, and the experimentally measured responses. One of the contributions of our work is a novel representation of the design variables using a density field that takes values in the range [0,1]andraised and raised to an integer exponent that promotes solutions to be near the extrema of the range. The density field is combined with the penalty method for enforcing a zero gap condition and realizing partially bonded surfaces. The use of the penalty method with a density field representation leads to objective functions that are continuously differentiable with respect to the unknown parameters, enabling the use of efficient gradient-based optimization algorithms. Numerical examples of delaminated plates are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.
This document presents tests from the Sierra Structural Mechanics verification test suite. Each of these tests is run nightly with the Sierra/SD code suite and the results of the test checked versus the correct analytic result. For each of the tests presented in this document the test setup, derivation of the analytic solution, and comparison of the Sierra/SD code results to the analytic solution is provided. This document can be used to confirm that a given code capability is verified or referenced as a compilation of example problems.
Here, this work presents two computational efficiency improvements for the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model presented by Sheldon et al. A new formulation for the solid is presented that eliminates the global displacement, resulting in the velocity being the only global solid variable. This necessitates a change to the solid-mesh displacement coupling, which is accounted for by coupling the local solid displacement to the global mesh displacement. Additionally, the mesh basis and test functions are restricted to linear polynomials, rather than being equal-order with the fluid and solid. This change increases the computational efficiency dynamically, with greater benefit the higher order the computation, when compared to an equal-order formulation. These two improvements result in a 50% reduction in the number of global degrees of freedom for high-order simulations for both the fluid and solid domains, as well as an approximately 50% reduction in the number of local fluid domain degrees of freedom for high-order simulations. Finally, the new, more efficient formulation is compared against that from Sheldon et al. and negligible change of accuracy is found.
A finite element formulation is developed for a poroelastic medium consisting of an incompressible hyperelastic skeleton saturated by an incompressible fluid. The governing equations stem from mixture theory and the application is motivated by the study of interstitial fluid flow in brain tissue. The formulation is based on the adoption of an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) perspective. We focus on a flow regime in which inertia forces are negligible. The stability and convergence of the formulation is discussed, and numerical results demonstrate agreement with the theory.
Willis, Adam M.; Cooper, Candice F.; Miller, Scott T.; Mejia-Alvarez, Ricardo M.; Tartis, Michaelann S.; Welsh, Kelsea W.; Wermer, Ann W.; Hovey, Chad B.; Massomi, Faezeh M.; Vidhate, Suhas V.; Ferguson, Kyle F.; Fuller, Ian F.; Morgan, Robert M.; Perl, Daniel P.; Taylor, Paul A.