An efficient strategy to lifetime calculations of large structures

The objective of this contribution is to present two single aspects of our efficient strategy to life cycle calculations of large structures. According to the assumption that only some segments of a structure require a non‐linear analysis the entire system is strictly decomposed into linear and non‐linear subsystems. To increase the efficiency further the number of degrees‐offreedom of the linear parts are treated by model reduction techniques. Three different methods are depicted and compared. To simulate the growth of damage an isotropic continuum damage model for ductile damage phenomena of metals under consideration of large inelastic strains is presented. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)