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Multi‐slicing strategy for the three‐dimensional discontinuity layout optimization (3D DLO)
Author(s) -
Zhang Yiming
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.2566
Subject(s) - classification of discontinuities , discontinuity (linguistics) , slicing , computation , mathematical optimization , computer science , algorithm , mathematics , mathematical analysis , world wide web
Summary Discontinuity layout optimization (DLO) is a recently presented topology optimization method for determining the critical layout of discontinuities and the associated upper bound limit load for plane two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional (3D) problems. The modelling process (pre‐processing) for DLO includes defining the discontinuities inside a specified domain and building the target function and the global constraint matrix for the optimization solver, which has great influence on the the efficiency of the computation processes and the reliability of the final results. This paper focuses on efficient and reliable pre‐processing of the discontinuities within the 3D DLO and presents a multi‐slicing strategy, which naturally avoids the overlapping and crossing of different discontinuities. Furthermore, the formulation of the 3D discontinuity considering a shape of an arbitrary convex polygon is introduced, permitting the efficient assembly of the global constraint matrix. The proposed method eliminates unnecessary discontinuities in 3D DLO, making it possible to apply 3D DLO for solving large‐scale engineering problems such as those involving landslides. Numerical examples including a footing test, a 3D landslide and a punch indentation are considered, illustrating the effectiveness of the presented method. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.