Coupling Of Finite Element Analysis Research Articles

Numerical Investigation of Rainfall-Induced Landslide in Mudstone Using Coupled Finite and Discrete Element Analysis

In this study, the role of water infiltration on a rainfall-induced landslide in mudstone is investigated. Finite element analysis (FEA) and discrete element analysis (DEA) were employed to explore the driving mechanism in the prefailure regime and the dynamic runout process in the postfailure regime, respectively. The driving mechanism was revealed in terms of the pore water pressures, saturation, and displacement of the sliding zone. To account for water infiltration associated with the dynamic runout process of the landsliding, the sliding friction coefficient in DEA was examined. Based on the results, satisfactory agreement between the numerical analysis and landslide behavior was realized. In prefailure regime, the onset of landslide initiation was found through assessment of rapid change of source displacement (RCSD). The estimated seepage force was about 0.5 N at landslide initiation. In postfailure regime, the results demonstrate that water infiltration and transition in steepness play significant roles in the behavior of the dynamic runout process. The landsliding exhibited a maximum speed of 4.41 m/s and decelerated as it reached a more gentle slope. Overall, the study indicated that the coupling of FEA and DEA can be used to investigate the role of water infiltration and provide useful insights. The approach can be further applied for studies on many other rainfall-induced geohazards to disclose the role of water infiltration with the prefailure and postfailure characteristics.

Probabilistic life assessment on fatigue crack growth in mixed-mode by coupling of Kriging model and finite element analysis

It is necessary to manage the fatigue crack growth (FCG) of engineering structures for ensuring an appropriate reliability level over the entire operational lifetime. This paper deals with an approach to assess the probabilistic life of mixed-mode FCG by coupling of finite element analysis and Kriging-based reliability methods. A simulation program (FCG-System) is developed to simulate the fatigue crack path and to compute the corresponding fatigue life. Kriging-based Monte Carlo simulation method is used to solve fatigue reliability problem with uncertain parameters. Numerical applications dealing with FCG are presented to illustrate the numerical efficiency and accuracy of the proposed approach.

A sequential fluid–solid weak coupling analysis of the SPE in stressed Si layers

The kinetically driven growth instability in stressed solids has been a subject of recent investigation as there is an increasing interest in the effects of non-hydrostatic stresses on crystal growth processes. Recent experimental and modeling work have shown that the effect of stress on the solid phase epitaxy (SPE) growth of crystalline silicon from the amorphous phase is responsible for the roughening of its amorphous–crystalline interface. Although our previous model (Phan, A.-V., Kaplan, T., Gray, L.J., Adalsteinsson, D., Sethian, J.A., Barvosa-Carter, W., Aziz, M.J., 2001. Modelling a growth instability in a stressed solid. Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering 9, 309–325.) has been able to explain the observed interfacial instability during the crystal growth of intrinsic silicon, it has not been very successful when extended to the SPE growth process of doped silicon. In an effort to identify the sources that may improve the accuracy and robustness of the previously proposed model, we present in this paper a new approach for modeling the crystal growth in stressed Si layers. The technique is based upon the coupling of finite element analysis, the sequentially weak coupling analysis for fluid–solid interaction, and the marker particle method.