Application of algorithm with variable step in time to solve problem of contact interaction of fuel element with account of creep

Abstract

The paper considers the algorithm for solving axisymmetric contact problems of thermoelasticity, taking into account the processes of creep. To take into account the contact interaction of bodies, the mortar method was used, the modified symmetric successive upper relaxation method (MSSOR) was used to solve the obtained system of linear equations. For the numerical solution of the problem modeling the creep process, time discretization based on the implicit Euler method was applied, the Newton method was used to linearize the resulting system of equations. An algorithm with automatic step selection based on obtaining an estimate of local error of the method is proposed. The results of the application of the proposed a lgorithm to the demo problem, which simulate thermomechanical processes in the section of the fuel element, which includes from 1 to 10 fuel pellets are presented.