• Abstract

This article is devoted to analyze some ambiguities coming from a class of sediment transport models. The models under consideration are governed by the coupling between the shallow-water and the Exner equations. Since the PDE system turns out to be an hyperbolic system in non conservative form, ambiguities may occur as soon as the solution contains shock waves. To enforce a unique definition of the discontinuous solutions, we adopt the path-theory introduced by Dal Maso, LeFLoch and Murat [18]. According to the path choices, we exhibit several shock definitions and we prove that a shock with a constant propagation speed and a given left state may connect an arbitrary right state. As a consequence, additional assumptions (coming from physical considerations or other arguments) must be chosen to enforce a unique definition. Moreover, we show that numerical ambiguities may still exist even when a path is chosen to select the system’s solution.

• Abstract

This paper presents an efficient method to calculate the displacement and stress fields in an isotropic elastic half-space having a hemispherical pit and being subject to gravity. The method is semi-analytical and takes advantage of the axisymmetry of the problem. The Boussinesq potentials are used to obtain an analytical solution in series form, which satisfies the equilibrium equations of elastostatics, traction-free boundary conditions on the infinite plane surface and decaying conditions at infinity. The boundary conditions on the free surface of the pit are then imposed numerically, by minimising a quadratic functional of surface elastic energy. The minimisation yields a symmetric and positive definite linear system of equations for the coefficients of the series, whose particular block structure allows its solution in an efficient and robust way. The convergence of the series is verified and the obtained semi-analytical solution is then evaluated, providing numerical results. The method is validated by comparing the semi-analytical solution with the numerical results obtained using a commercial finite element software.

• Abstract

In this paper, we present a superconvergence result for the bi-k degree timespace fully discontinuous finite element of first-order hyperbolic problems. Based on the element orthogonality analysis (EOA), we first obtain the optimal convergence order of discontinuous Galerkin finite element solution. Then we use orthogonality correction technique to prove a superconvergence result at right Radau points, which is higher one order than the optimal convergence rate. Finally, numerical results are presented to illustrate the theoretical analysis.

• Abstract

Aiming at complex configuration and large deformation, an efficient hybrid method for dynamic mesh generation is presented in this paper, which is based on Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) and Delaunay graph mapping. Based on the computational mesh, a set of very coarse grid named as background grid is generated firstly, and then the computational mesh can be located at the background grid by Delaunay graph mapping technique. After that, the RBFs method is applied to deform the background grid by choosing partial mesh points on the boundary as the control points. Finally, Delaunay graph mapping method is used to relocate the computational mesh by employing area or volume weight coefficients. By applying different dynamic mesh methods to a moving NACA0012 airfoil, it can be found that the RBFs-Delaunay graph mapping hybrid method is as accurate as RBFs and is as efficient as Delaunay graph mapping technique. Numerical results show that the dynamic meshes for all test cases including one two-dimensional (2D) and two three-dimensional (3D) problems with different complexities, can be generated in an accurate and efficient manner by using the present hybrid method.

• Abstract

One of the useful methods for offshore oil exploration in the deep regions is the use of tension leg platforms (TLP). The effective mass fluctuating of the structure which due to its vibration can be noted as one of the important issues about these platforms. With this description, dynamic analysis of these structures will play a signifi- cant role in their design. Differential equations of motion of such systems are nonlinear and providing a useful method for its analysis is very important. Also, the amount of added mass coefficient has a direct effect on the level of nonlinearity of partial differential equation of these systems. In this study, Homotopy analysis method has been used for closed form solution of the governing differential equation. Linear springs have been used for modeling the stiffness of this system and the effects of torsion, bending and damping of water have been ignored. In the study of obtained results, the effect of added mass coefficient has been investigated. The results show that increasing of this coefficient decreases the bottom amplitude of fluctuations and the system frequency. The obtained results from this method are in good agreement with the published results on the valid articles.

• Abstract

An analysis is carried out to study the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and heat transfer characteristics of an electrically conducting dusty non-Newtonian fluid, namely, the upper convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid over a stretching sheet. The stretching velocity and the temperature at the surface are assumed to vary linearly with the distance from the origin. Using a similarity transformation, the governing nonlinear partial differential equations of the model problem are transformed into coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations and the equations are solved numerically by a second order finite difference implicit method known as the Keller-box method. Comparisons with the available results in the literature are presented as a special case. The effects of the physical parameters on the fluid velocity, the velocity of the dust particle, the density of the dust particle, the fluid temperature, the dust-phase temperature, the skin friction, and the wall-temperature gradient are presented through tables and graphs. It is observed that, Maxwell fluid reduces the wall-shear stress. Also, the fluid particle interaction reduces the fluid temperature in the boundary layer. Furthermore, the results obtained for the flow and heat transfer characteristics reveal many interesting behaviors that warrant further study on the non-Newtonian fluid flow phenomena, especially the dusty UCM fluid flow phenomena.

• Abstract

An inverse problem of identifying inhomogeneity or crack in the workpiece made of nonlinear magnetic material is investigated. To recover the shape from the local measurements, a piecewise constant level set algorithm is proposed. By means of the Lagrangian multiplier method, we derive the first variation w.r.t the piecewise constant level set function and obtain the descent direction by the adjoint variable method. Numerical results show the robustness and effectiveness of our algorithm applied to reconstruct some complex shapes.