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We present an administration technique for the bookkeeping of adaptive mesh refinement on (hyper-)rectangular meshes. Our technique is a unified approach for h-refinement on 1-, 2- and 3D domains, which is easy to use and avoids traversing the connectivity graph of the ancestry of mesh cells. Due to the employed rectangular mesh structure, the identification of the siblings and the neighbouring cells is greatly simplified. The administration technique is particularly designed for smooth meshes, where the smoothness is dynamically used in the matrix operations. It has a small memory footprint that makes it affordable for a wide range of mesh resolutions over a large class of problems. We present three applications of this technique, one of which addresses h-refinement and its benefits in a 2D tumour growth and invasion problem., Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures

[EN] We present a novel approach to 3D structural shape optimization that leans on an Immersed Boundary Method. A boundary tracking strategy based on evaluating the intersections between a fixed Cartesian grid and the evolving geometry sorts elements as internal, external and intersected. The integration procedure used by the NURBS-Enhanced Finite Element Method accurately accounts for the nonconformity between the fixed embedding discretization and the evolving structural shape, avoiding the creation of a boundary-fitted mesh for each design iteration, yielding in very efficient mesh generation process. A Cartesian hierarchical data structure improves the efficiency of the analyzes, allowing for trivial data sharing between similar entities or for an optimal reordering of thematrices for the solution of the system of equations, among other benefits. Shape optimization requires the sufficiently accurate structural analysis of a large number of different designs, presenting the computational cost for each design as a critical issue. The information required to create 3D Cartesian h- adapted mesh for new geometries is projected from previously analyzed geometries using shape sensitivity results. Then, the refinement criterion permits one to directly build h-adapted mesh on the new designs with a specified and controlled error level. Several examples are presented to show how the techniques here proposed considerably improve the computational efficiency of the optimization process., The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad for the financial support received through the project DPI2013-46317-R and the FPI program (BES-2011-044080), and the Generalitat Valenciana through the project PROMETEO/2016/007.

[EN] Geometry plays a key role in contact and shape optimization problems in which the accurate representation of the exact geometry and the use of adaptive analysis techniques are crucial to obtaining accurate computationally-efficient Finite Element (FE) simulations. We propose a novel algorithm to generate 3D h-adaptive meshes for an Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) based on Cartesian grids and the so-called NEFEM (NURBS-Enhanced FE Method) integration techniques. To increase the accuracy of the results at the minimum computational cost we seek to keep the efficient Cartesian structure of the mesh during the whole analysis process while considering the exact boundary representation of domains given by NURBS or T-Splines. Within the framework of Cartesian grids, the two significant contributions of this paper are: (a) the methodology used for the mesh-geometry intersection, which represents a considerable challenge due to their independence; and (b) the robust procedure used to generate the integration subdomains that exactly represent the CAD model. The numerical examples given show the proper convergence of the method, its capacity to mesh complex 3D geometries and that Cartesian grid-based IBM can be considered a robust and reliable tool in terms of accuracy and computational cost., The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad for the financial support received through Project DPI2013-46317-R and the FPI program (BES-2011-044080), also the Generalitat Valenciana for the assistance received through Project PROMETEO/2016/007.

As ever more challenging designs are required in present-day industries, the traditional trial-and-error procedure frequently used for designing mechanical parts slows down the design process and yields suboptimal designs, so that new approaches are needed to obtain a competitive advantage. With the ascent of the Finite Element Method (FEM) in the engineering community in the 1970s, structural shape optimization arose as a promising area of application. However, due to the iterative nature of shape optimization processes, the handling of large quantities of numerical models along with the approximated character of numerical methods may even dissuade the use of these techniques (or fail to exploit their full potential) because the development time of new products is becoming ever shorter. This Thesis is concerned with the formulation of a 3D methodology based on the Cartesian-grid Finite Element Method (cgFEM) as a tool for efficient and robust numerical analysis. This methodology belongs to the category of embedded (or fictitious) domain discretization techniques in which the key concept is to extend the structural analysis problem to an easy-to-mesh approximation domain that encloses the physical domain boundary. The use of Cartesian grids provides a natural platform for structural shape optimization because the numerical domain is separated from a physical model, which can easily be changed during the optimization procedure without altering the background discretization. Another advantage is the fact that mesh generation becomes a trivial task since the discretization of the numerical domain and its manipulation, in combination with an efficient hierarchical data structure, can be exploited to save computational effort. However, these advantages are challenged by several numerical issues. Basically, the computational effort has moved from the use of expensive meshing algorithms towards the use of, for example, elaborate numerical integration schemes designed to capture the mismatch between the geometrical domain boundary and the embedding finite element mesh. To do this we used a stabilized formulation to impose boundary conditions and developed novel techniques to be able to capture the exact boundary representation of the models. To complete the implementation of a structural shape optimization method an adjunct formulation is used for the differentiation of the design sensitivities required for gradient-based algorithms. The derivatives are not only the variables required for the process, but also compose a powerful tool for projecting information between different designs, or even projecting the information to create h-adapted meshes without going through a full h-adaptive refinement process. The proposed improvements are reflected in the numerical examples included in this Thesis. These analyses clearly show the improved behavior of the cgFEM technology as regards numerical accuracy and computational efficiency, and consequently the suitability of the cgFEM approach for shape optimization or contact problems., La competitividad en la industria actual impone la necesidad de generar nuevos y mejores diseños. El tradicional procedimiento de prueba y error, usado a menudo para el diseño de componentes mecánicos, ralentiza el proceso de diseño y produce diseños subóptimos, por lo que se necesitan nuevos enfoques para obtener una ventaja competitiva. Con el desarrollo del Método de los Elementos Finitos (MEF) en el campo de la ingeniería en la década de 1970, la optimización de forma estructural surgió como un área de aplicación prometedora. El entorno industrial cada vez más exigente implica ciclos cada vez más cortos de desarrollo de nuevos productos. Por tanto, la naturaleza iterativa de los procesos de optimización de forma, que supone el análisis de gran cantidad de geometrías (para las se han de usar modelos numéricos de gran tamaño a fin de limitar el efecto de los errores intrínsecamente asociados a las técnicas numéricas), puede incluso disuadir del uso de estas técnicas. Esta Tesis se centra en la formulación de una metodología 3D basada en el Cartesian-grid Finite Element Method (cgFEM) como herramienta para un análisis numérico eficiente y robusto. Esta metodología pertenece a la categoría de técnicas de discretización Immersed Boundary donde el concepto clave es extender el problema de análisis estructural a un dominio de aproximación, que contiene la frontera del dominio físico, cuya discretización (mallado) resulte sencilla. El uso de mallados cartesianos proporciona una plataforma natural para la optimización de forma estructural porque el dominio numérico está separado del modelo físico, que podrá cambiar libremente durante el procedimiento de optimización sin alterar la discretización subyacente. Otro argumento positivo reside en el hecho de que la generación de malla se convierte en una tarea trivial. La discretización del dominio numérico y su manipulación, en coalición con la eficiencia de una estructura jerárquica de datos, pueden ser explotados para ahorrar coste computacional. Sin embargo, estas ventajas pueden ser cuestionadas por varios problemas numéricos. Básicamente, el esfuerzo computacional se ha desplazado. Del uso de costosos algoritmos de mallado nos movemos hacia el uso de, por ejemplo, esquemas de integración numérica elaborados para poder capturar la discrepancia entre la frontera del dominio geométrico y la malla de elementos finitos que lo embebe. Para ello, utilizamos, por un lado, una formulación de estabilización para imponer condiciones de contorno y, por otro lado, hemos desarrollado nuevas técnicas para poder captar la representación exacta de los modelos geométricos. Para completar la implementación de un método de optimización de forma estructural se usa una formulación adjunta para derivar las sensibilidades de diseño requeridas por los algoritmos basados en gradiente. Las derivadas no son sólo variables requeridas para el proceso, sino una poderosa herramienta para poder proyectar información entre diferentes diseños o, incluso, proyectar la información para crear mallas h-adaptadas sin pasar por un proceso completo de refinamiento h-adaptativo. Las mejoras propuestas se reflejan en los ejemplos numéricos presentados en esta Tesis. Estos análisis muestran claramente el comportamiento superior de la tecnología cgFEM en cuanto a precisión numérica y eficiencia computacional. En consecuencia, el enfoque cgFEM se postula como una herramienta adecuada para la optimización de forma., Actualment, amb la competència existent en la industria, s'imposa la necessitat de generar nous i millors dissenys . El tradicional procediment de prova i error, que amb freqüència es fa servir pel disseny de components mecànics, endarrereix el procés de disseny i produeix dissenys subòptims, pel que es necessiten nous enfocaments per obtindre avantatge competitiu. Amb el desenvolupament del Mètode dels Elements Finits (MEF) en el camp de l'enginyeria en la dècada de 1970, l'optimització de forma estructural va sorgir com un àrea d'aplicació prometedora. No obstant això, a causa de la natura iterativa dels processos d'optimització de forma, la manipulació dels models numèrics en grans quantitats, junt amb l'error de discretització dels mètodes numèrics, pot fins i tot dissuadir de l'ús d'aquestes tècniques (o d'explotar tot el seu potencial), perquè al mateix temps els cicles de desenvolupament de nous productes s'estan acurtant. Esta Tesi se centra en la formulació d'una metodologia 3D basada en el Cartesian-grid Finite Element Method (cgFEM) com a ferramenta per una anàlisi numèrica eficient i sòlida. Esta metodologia pertany a la categoria de tècniques de discretització Immersed Boundary on el concepte clau és expandir el problema d'anàlisi estructural a un domini d'aproximació fàcil de mallar que conté la frontera del domini físic. L'utilització de mallats cartesians proporciona una plataforma natural per l'optimització de forma estructural perquè el domini numèric està separat del model físic, que podria canviar lliurement durant el procediment d'optimització sense alterar la discretització subjacent. A més, un altre argument positiu el trobem en què la generació de malla es converteix en una tasca trivial, ja que la discretització del domini numèric i la seua manipulació, en coalició amb l'eficiència d'una estructura jeràrquica de dades, poden ser explotats per estalviar cost computacional. Tot i això, estos avantatges poden ser qüestionats per diversos problemes numèrics. Bàsicament, l'esforç computacional s'ha desplaçat. De l'ús de costosos algoritmes de mallat ens movem cap a l'ús de, per exemple, esquemes d'integració numèrica elaborats per poder capturar la discrepància entre la frontera del domini geomètric i la malla d'elements finits que ho embeu. Per això, fem ús, d'una banda, d'una formulació d'estabilització per imposar condicions de contorn i, d'un altra, desevolupem noves tècniques per poder captar la representació exacta dels models geomètrics Per completar la implementació d'un mètode d'optimització de forma estructural es fa ús d'una formulació adjunta per derivar les sensibilitats de disseny requerides pels algoritmes basats en gradient. Les derivades no són únicament variables requerides pel procés, sinó una poderosa ferramenta per poder projectar informació entre diferents dissenys o, fins i tot, projectar la informació per crear malles h-adaptades sense passar per un procés complet de refinament h-adaptatiu. Les millores proposades s'evidencien en els exemples numèrics presentats en esta Tesi. Estes anàlisis mostren clarament el comportament superior de la tecnologia cgFEM en tant a precisió numèrica i eficiència computacional. Així, l'enfocament cgFEM es postula com una ferramenta adient per l'optimització de forma.

In this paper a recently developed provably passive and stable 3D FDTD subgridding technique, based on finite elements principles, is extended to body-of-revolution (BOR) FDTD. First, a suitable choice of basis functions is presented together with the mechanism to assemble them into an overall mesh consisting of coarse and fine mesh cells. Invoking appropriate mass-lumping concepts then leads to an explicit leapfrog time stepping algorithm for the amplitudes of the basis functions. Attention is devoted to provide the reader with insight into the updating equations, in particular at a subgridding boundary. Stability, grid reflection and dispersion are also discussed. Finally, some numerical examples for toroidal and cylindrical cavities demonstrate the stability and accuracy of the method.

During high order simulations, the approximation error may be dominated by the errors linked to the sub-parametric discretization used for the geometry representation. Many works propose to use an isogeometric analysis approach to better represent the geometry and hence solve this problem. In this work, we will present the coupling between the limited stabilized Lax-Friedrichs residual distributed scheme and the isogeometric analysis. Especially, we will build a family of basis functions defined on both triangular and quadrangular elements and allowing the exact representation of conics : the rational Bernstein basis functions. We will then focus in how to generate accurate meshes for isogeometric analysis. Our idea is to create a curved mesh from a classical piecewise-linear mesh of the geometry. We obtain a conforming unstructured mesh which ensures the continuity of the basis functions over the entire mesh. Last, we will detail the curved mesh adaptation methods developed : the order elevation and the isotropic mesh refinement. Of course, the adaptation processes preserve the exact geometry of the initial curved mesh.; Lors de simulations numériques d'ordre élevé, la discrétisation sous-paramétrique du domaine de calcul peut générer des erreurs dominant l'erreur liée à la discrétisation des variables. De nombreux travaux proposent d'utiliser l'analyse isogéométrique afin de mieux représenter les géométries et de résoudre ce problème. Nous présenterons dans ce travail le couplage du schéma aux résidus distribués limité et stabilisé de Lax-Frieirichs avec l'analyse isogéométrique. En particulier, nous construirons une famille de fonctions de base permettant de représenter exactement les coniques et définies tant sur les éléments triangulaires que quadrangulaires : les fonctions de base de Bernstein rationnelles. Nous nous intéresserons ensuite à la génération de maillages précis pour l'analyse isogéométrique. Notre méthode consiste à créer un maillage courbe à partir d'un maillage linéaire par morceaux de la géométrie. Le maillage obtenu en sortie de notre procédure est non-structuré, conforme et assure la continuité de nos fonctions de base sur tout le domaine. Pour finir, nous décrirons les différentes méthodes d'adaptation de maillages développées : l'élévation d'ordre et le raffinement isotrope. Bien évidemment, la géométrie exacte du maillage courbe d'entrée est préservée au cours des processus d'adaptation.

During high order simulations, the approximation error may be dominated by the errors linked to the sub-parametric discretization used for the geometry representation. Many works propose to use an isogeometric analysis approach to better represent the geometry and hence solve this problem. In this work, we will present the coupling between the limited stabilized Lax-Friedrichs residual distributed scheme and the isogeometric analysis. Especially, we will build a family of basis functions defined on both triangular and quadrangular elements and allowing the exact representation of conics : the rational Bernstein basis functions. We will then focus in how to generate accurate meshes for isogeometric analysis. Our idea is to create a curved mesh from a classical piecewise-linear mesh of the geometry. We obtain a conforming unstructured mesh which ensures the continuity of the basis functions over the entire mesh. Last, we will detail the curved mesh adaptation methods developed : the order elevation and the isotropic mesh refinement. Of course, the adaptation processes preserve the exact geometry of the initial curved mesh.; Lors de simulations numériques d'ordre élevé, la discrétisation sous-paramétrique du domaine de calcul peut générer des erreurs dominant l'erreur liée à la discrétisation des variables. De nombreux travaux proposent d'utiliser l'analyse isogéométrique afin de mieux représenter les géométries et de résoudre ce problème. Nous présenterons dans ce travail le couplage du schéma aux résidus distribués limité et stabilisé de Lax-Frieirichs avec l'analyse isogéométrique. En particulier, nous construirons une famille de fonctions de base permettant de représenter exactement les coniques et définies tant sur les éléments triangulaires que quadrangulaires : les fonctions de base de Bernstein rationnelles. Nous nous intéresserons ensuite à la génération de maillages précis pour l'analyse isogéométrique. Notre méthode consiste à créer un maillage courbe à partir d'un maillage linéaire par morceaux de la géométrie. Le maillage obtenu en sortie de notre procédure est non-structuré, conforme et assure la continuité de nos fonctions de base sur tout le domaine. Pour finir, nous décrirons les différentes méthodes d'adaptation de maillages développées : l'élévation d'ordre et le raffinement isotrope. Bien évidemment, la géométrie exacte du maillage courbe d'entrée est préservée au cours des processus d'adaptation.

An h-adaptive unstructured mesh refinement strategy to solve unsteady problems by the finite element method is presented. The maximum level of refinement for the mesh is prescribed beforehand. The core operation of the strategy, namely the refinement of the elements, is described in detail. It is shown through numerical tests that one of the advantages of the chosen refinement procedure is to keep bounded the mesh quality. The type of element is not changed and no transition templates are used, therefore hanging nodes appear in the adapted mesh. The 1-irregular nodes refinement constraint is applied and the refinement process driven by this criterion is recursive. Both the strength and weakness of the adaptivity algorithm are mentioned, based on clock time measures and implementation issues. To show the proper working of the strategy, an axisymmetric, compressible non-viscous starting flow in a bell-shaped nozzle is solved over an unstructured mesh of hexahedra. Fil: Rios Rodriguez, Gustavo Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; Argentina Fil: Nigro, Norberto Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; Argentina Fil: Storti, Mario Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; Argentina

We begin the mathematical study of Isogeometric Analysis based on NURBS (non-uniform rational B-splines). Isogeometric Analysis is a generalization of classical Finite Element Analysis (FEA) which possesses improved properties. For example, NURBS are capable of more precise geometric representation of complex objects and, in particular, can exactly represent many commonly engineered shapes, such as cylinders, spheres and tori. Isogeometric Analysis also simplifies mesh refinement because the geometry is fixed at the coarsest level of refinement and is unchanged throughout the refinement process. This eliminates geometrical errors and the necessity of linking the refinement procedure to a CAD representation of the geometry, as in classical FEA. In this work we study approximation and stability properties in the context of h-refinement. We develop approximation estimates based on a new Bramble–Hilbert lemma in so-called "bent" Sobolev spaces appropriate for NURBS approximations and establish inverse estimates similar to those for finite elements. We apply the theoretical results to several cases of interest including elasticity, isotropic incompressible elasticity and Stokes flow, and advection-diffusion, and perform numerical tests which corroborate the mathematical results. We also perform numerical calculations that involve hypotheses outside our theory and these suggest that there are many other interesting mathematical properties of Isogeometric Analysis yet to be proved.

In this paper, an adjoint-based error estimation and mesh adaptation framework is developed for the compressible inviscid flows. The algorithm employs the Finite Calculus (FIC) scheme for the numerical solution of the flow and discrete adjoint equations in the context of the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) on triangular grids. The FIC scheme treats the instabilities normally generated in the numerical solution of the fluid equations through adding two stabilization terms, called streamline term and transverse term, to the original central-based discretized formulation. The non-linear system of equations resulting from the flow problem is solved implicitly using a damped Newton's method accompanied with the exact Jacobian matrix. A defect corrected scheme is implemented to iteratively solve the linear system of equations related to the adjoint problem benefiting from the transpose of the Jacobian matrix. At each iteration, the linear systems of equations resulting from the fluid and adjoint problems are solved using a preconditioned GMRES method. Having calculated the error of a specified output functional locally, an h-refinement methodology based on the element subdivision is performed to refine the candidate elements. The quality of the numerical results proves the capability of the presented approach for the adjoint-based error estimation and mesh adaptation problems in different flow regimes.