Section: New Results

Integral equations

Mesh adaptation for the fast multipole method in acoustics

Participants : Faisal Amlani, Stéphanie Chaillat, Samuel Groth.

This work is done in collaboration with Adrien Loseille (EPI Gamma3). We introduce a metric-based anisotropic mesh adaptation strategy for the fast multipole accelerated boundary element method (FM-BEM) applied to exterior boundary value problems of the three-dimensional Helmholtz equation. The present methodology is independent of discretization technique and iteratively constructs meshes refined in size, shape and orientation according to an optimal metric reliant on a reconstructed Hessian of the boundary solution. The resulting adaptation is anisotropic in nature and numerical examples demonstrate optimal convergence rates for domains that include geometric singularities such as corners and ridges.

Coupling integral equations and high-frequency methods

Participants : Marc Bonnet, Marc Lenoir, Eric Lunéville, Laure Pesudo, Nicolas Salles.

This theme concerns wave propagation phenomena which involve two different space scales, namely, on the one hand, a medium scale associated with lengths of the same order of magnitude as the wavelength (medium-frequency regime) and on the other hand, a long scale related to lengths which are large compared to the wavelength (high-frequency regime). Integral equation methods are known to be well suited for the former, whereas high-frequency methods such as geometric optics are generally used for the latter. Because of the presence of both scales, both kinds of simulation methods are simultaneously needed but these techniques do not lend themselves easily to coupling.

A first situation, considered by Marc Lenoir, Eric Lunéville and Nicolas Salles, is the scattering of an acoustic wave by two sound-hard obstacles: a large obstacle subject to high-frequency regime relatively to the wavelength and a small one subject to medium-frequency regime. The technique proposed in this case consists in an iterative method which allows to decouple the two obstacles and to use Geometric Optics for the large obstacle and Boundary Element Method for the small obstacle. The method is implemented on the XLife++ library developed in the lab.

The second situation, undertaken in the context of the PhD thesis of Laure Pesudo, is the subject of a partnership with CEA LIST and a collaboration with Francis Collino. Modelling ultrasonic non destructive testing (NDT) experiments simultaneously involves the scattering of waves by defects of moderate size (for which discretization-based methods such as the BEM are appropriate) and propagation over large distances (requiring high-frequency approximations). A new hybrid strategy between the boundary element method (BEM) and ray tracing is proposed in order to allow the accurate and quick simulation of high frequency Non Destructive Testing (NDT) configurations involving diffraction phenomena. Results from its implementation to 2D acoustic NDT-like diffraction configurations have been obtained. The strategy proposed is however generic, and can be extended to three-dimensional configurations and elastodynamic wave propagation.

Dynamic soil-structure interaction

Participants : Marc Bonnet, Stéphanie Chaillat, Zouhair Adnani.

This work, undertaken in the context of the PhD thesis of Zouhair Adnani (CIFRE partnership with EDF), concerns the simulation of dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) in connection with seismic assessment of civil engineering structures. Because of the complementary specificities of the finite element method (FEM) and the boundary element method (BEM), it is natural to use the BEM to model the unbounded soil domain, while the FEM is applied for the bounded region comprising the structure undergoing assessment, and possibly its close-range soil environment.

The originality of this work is to formulate, implement, and evaluate on realistic test examples, a computational strategy that combines the fast multipole accelerated boundary element method (visco-elastodynamic COFFEE solver), and the EDF in-house FEM code Code_Aster. In a preliminary phase, the evaluation of transient elastodynamic responses via the Fourier synthesis of frequency domain solutions computed using COFFEE (see Section 5.1 ) has been studied on several test problems, achieving substantial improvements of computational efficiency for this component of SSI analysis.

The coupling between the two methods is then done in a black-box fashion with the substructuring method by computing the soil impedance (i.e. elastodynamic Poincaré-Steklov) operator relating forces to displacements on the FEM-BEM coupling interface. One of the main challenges is that this operator cannot be assembled due to the iterative nature of the FM-BEM and the potentially large number of degrees of freedom supported by the interface. To reduce the computational costs, we instead compute its projection on a reduced basis of interface modes, which requires to perform as many FM-BEM calculations as interface modes selected. This approach has so far been compared to reference solutions and validated for superficial and buried foundations on homogeneous or heterogeneous soil.

Volume Integral Formulations

Participant : Marc Bonnet.

Volume integral equations (VIEs), also known as Lippmann-Schwinger integral equations, arise naturally when considering the scattering of waves by penetrable, and possibly heterogeneous, inhomogeneities embedded in a homogeneous background medium (for which a fundamental solution is explicitly known). Their derivation and use in e.g. acoustics, elastodynamics or electromagnetism goes back several decades. Since their geometrical support is confined to the spatial region where material properties differ from the background, VIEs are in particular useful for the derivation and justification of homogenized or asymptotic models (the latter providing our main motivation for this study, in connection with [section gradient topologique]). By directly linking remote measurements to unknown inhomogeneities, VIEs also provide a convenient forward modeling approach for medium imaging inverse problems. However, whereas the theory of boundary integral equations is extensively documented, the mathematical properties of VIEs have undergone a comparatively modest coverage, much of it pertaining to electromagnetic scattering problems.

In this work, we investigate the solvability of VIE formulations arising in elastodynamic scattering by penetrable obstacles. The elasticity tensor and mass density are allowed to be smoothly heterogeneous inside the obstacle and may be discontinuous across the background-obstacle interface, the background elastic material being homogeneous. Both materials may be anisotropic, within certain limitations for the background medium.

Towards this goal, we have introduced a modified version of the singular volume integral equation (SVIE) governing the corresponding elastostatic (i.e. zero frequency) problem, and shown it to be of second kind involving a contraction operator, i.e. solvable by Neumann series, for any background material and inhomogeneity material and geometry. Then, the solvability of VIEs for frequency-domain elastodynamic scattering problems follows by a compact perturbation argument, assuming uniqueness to be established. In particular, in an earlier work, we have established a uniqueness result for the anisotropic background case (where, to avoid difficulties associated with existing radiation conditions for anisotropic elastic media, we have proposed an alternative definition of the radiating character of solutions, which is equivalent to the classical Sommerfeld-Kupradze conditions for the isotropic background case). This investigation extends work by Potthast (1999) on 2D electromagnetic problems (transverse-electric polarization conditions) involving orthotropic inhomogeneities in a isotropic background, and contains recent results on the solvability of Eshelby's equivalent inclusion problem as special cases. The proposed modified SVIE is also useful for fixed-point iterative solution methods, as Neumannn series then converge (i) unconditionally for static problems and (ii) on some inhomogeneity configurations for which divergence occurs with the usual SVIE for wave scattering problems.