The p-version of the nite element method compared to an

adaptive h-version for the deformation theory of plasticity

A. D uster
1
, E. Rank
*
Fakultat Bauwesen, Lehrstuhl fur Bauinformatik, Technische Universitat Munchen, Arcisstr. 21, D-80290, Munchen, Germany
Abstract
A p-version of the nite element method is applied to the deformation theory of plasticity and the results are compared to a state-of-
the-art adaptive h-version. It is demonstrated that even for nonlinear elliptic problems the p-version is a very efcient discretization
strategy. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: p-version; Deformation theory of plasticity; Hencky plasticity
1. Introduction
The p-version of the nite element method has been investigated very intensively during the past 15 years
and it has turned out to be superior to the classical h-version in a signicant number of elds of practical
importance. Most applications were restricted to linear elliptic problems like the Poisson equation, the
Lame equations, the ReissnerMindlin plate problem, etc. Recently, it was shown that the p-version can be
successfully extended to geometrically nonlinear problems [14] and to elastoplastic analysis of two-
dimensional structures [12,28].
The aim of this paper is to compare the p-version of the nite element method for the deformation theory
of plasticity with a state-of-the-art adaptive h-version in order to stress the fact that high-order nite element
methods can compete with adaptive h-versions. The results of the p-version will be compared to the latest
results of the current German research project, `Adaptive nite element methods in applied mechanics' [5,6].
The outline of the paper is as follows: rst we will set up some basic notations concerning the defor-
mation theory of plasticity. In Section 3, a short introduction to the p-version is given. The efciency of the
p-version is demonstrated by two numerical examples in Section 4. Our numerical results are veried by
similar computations having been performed independently with a different p-version code by Actis and
Szab o [30].
2. The deformation theory of plasticity
The deformation theory of plasticity, rst proposed by Hencky [10], is valid for an isotropic material
under radial
2
loading up to strains lower than the damage threshold (see e.g. [15,16,29]). Following the
www.elsevier.com/locate/cma
Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +89-289-23048; fax: +89-289-25051; http://www.inf.bauwesen.tu-muenchen.de/start.htm.
E-mail addresses: duester@inf.bauwesen.tu-muenchen.de (A. Du ster), rank@server.inf.bauwesen.tu-muenchen.de (E. Rank).
1
Partially supported by the German Science Foundation DFG under contract RA624/2-3.
2
A loading is said to be radial or proportional, if during the loading the ratios of the stress components remain constant.
0045-7825/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 5 - 7 8 2 5 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 2 1 5 - 2
notation given in [13], the Hencky problem in perfect plasticity for small strains with the von Mises yield
criterion can be stated as follows:
Find the displacement eld u and the stress eld r such that
divr = f in XY
r = P(2le
D
(u)) jtr e(u)I in XY
u = 0 on C
D
Y
"
t rn = 0 on C
N
Y
(1)
where X is a bounded domain in R
3
,
P(2le
D
(u)) X=
2le
D
(u) if |2le
D
(u)| 6r
0
Y
r
0
|e
D
(u)|
e
D
(u) if |2le
D
(u)| b r
0
Y
&
(2)
with | | X=

( X )
p
. Boundary conditions are given at C
D
and C
N
, where displacements and tractions are
imposed, respectively. e
D
(u) = e(u)
1
3
tr e(u)I is the deviatoric part of the strain tensor
e(u) =
1
2
grad u

grad
T
u

X (3)
The material constants are the shear modulus l, the bulk modulus j and the yield stress r
yield
=

3a2
p
r
0
.
The corresponding weak form of Eq. (1) reads:
Find u V = v(x) H
1
(X) [ [
3
X v = 0 on C
D
such that

X
r(u) X e(v) dX =

X
v f dX

C
N
v
"
t dC \v VX (4)
The main dierence between the deformation theory and the ow theory of PrandtlReuss [15,16,20] is the
computation of the plastic strains. In ow theory, the plastic strains e
p
= e e
e
are given by the rate
equation
e
p
= cr
D
X (5)
Due to the postulated proportional loading in case of the deformation theory the ow rule (5) can be
formally integrated, leading to an algebraic equation for determining the plastic strains
e
p
= cr
D
X (6)
An existence theorem for proportional loading can be found in [15].
3. The p-version
While in the standard h-version of the nite element method the mesh is rened to achieve convergence,
the polynomial degree of the shape functions remains unchanged. Usually low-order approximation of
degree p = 1 or p = 2 is chosen. The p-version leaves the mesh unchanged and increases the polynomial
degree of the shape functions locally or globally. In most implementations a hierarchical set of shape
functions is applied, providing a simple and consistent facility of implementation in one-, two- or three-
dimensional analysis. Guidelines to construct these meshes a priori can often be given much more easily for
the p-version than for the h-version [26,27]. For linear elliptic problems, it was also proven that a sequence
of meshes can be constructed so that the approximation error only depends on the polynomial degree p and
not on the order of singularities in the exact solution (see [2]).
1926 A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935
Following Szab o and Babuska [26], our p-version implementation uses hierarchical basis functions,
which can easily be implemented up to any desired polynomial degree. The ansatz space S
pYp
(X
q
st
) applied in
this report is the space of polynomials on X
q
st
= [(1Y 1) (1Y 1)[ being spanned by the set of all mono-
mials n
i
g
j
Y iY j = 0Y 1Y F F F Y p. Considering, e.g. a nite element for plane elasticity problems based on the
ansatz space S
pYp
(X
q
st
) with p = 8, the size of the (n n)-stiffness matrix is n = 162. The amount of degrees
of freedom corresponding to the bubble modes is 98 being about 60% of the total number of degrees of
freedom on element level. As the bubble degrees of freedom are purely local to the element, they can be
condensed using a modied Cholesky decomposition for the element stiffness matrices. This results in
further increase of computation time on the element level but drastic decrease of solution time because the
condition number of the global stiffness matrix is strongly reduced (see e.g. [22,24]). Several authors
[1,17,19] have investigated these observations in detail, interpreting the bubble mode condensation as a
preconditioning procedure.
Another main dierence between h- and p-version nite element methods lies in mapping requirements.
Because in the p-version the element size is not reduced as the polynomial degree is increased, the de-
scription of the geometry has to be independent of the number of elements. This results in the necessity
to construct elements which exactly represent the boundary. The isoparametric mapping, used in stan-
dard nite element formulations, can be seen as a special case of mapping using the blending function
method [9,26]. Following these ideas element boundaries can be implemented as (almost) arbitrarily
curved edges.
In addition to the geometric exibility of higher-order elements there are several reasons for their
attractiveness like high accuracy, robustness and computational efciency. High accuracy is due to an
exponential rate of convergence in the case of an analytical exact solution. This exponential rate can
even be obtained for problems with singularities when an increase of the polynomial order is combined
with local mesh renement in an hp-version. The robustness of the p-version allows the use of strongly
distorted elements and prevents from Poisson ratio locking in cases of nearly incompressible materials
and from shear locking in thin plate situations based on ReissnerMindlin theory (see e.g. [11,21]). In
[22,23], the computational efciency of the p-version for ReissnerMindlin problems was compared to
the h-version and it was shown that the p-version is comparable in speed to a h-version computation
with the same amount of degrees of freedom, yet signicantly more accurate. Furthermore, it was
shown that the p-version is superior in parallel efciency as compared to a classical h-version approach
(see [24]).
4. Numerical results for a benchmark problem
Fig. 1 shows a quarter of a square plate with central hole and unit thickness, loaded by uniform
traction of magnitude p = fp
0
= f 100. The material is assumed to be elastic-perfectly-plastic and plane-
strain conditions are considered. The computations are carried out for the load parameters f = 3X0 and
f = 4X5, with shear modulus l = 80193X8, bulk modulus j = 164206X0 and yield stress r
yield
= 450. This
square plate was dened as a benchmark problem for the current German research project `Adaptive
nite-element-methods in applied mechanics' [5,6]. We will therefore refer to the results documented in
[3,4,6,25].
To nd an approximate solution of the weak form (4) for the given benchmark we use the p-version with
polynomial spaces S
pYp
(X
q
st
) on quadrilaterals taking advantage of the blending function method. The
nonlinear computations are performed using one load step and applying the NewtonRaphson method
combined with a radial return algorithm (see e.g. [7,8,16]).
4.1. Perforated square plate under uniform tension with load factor f = 3X0
First, we will consider the benchmark system with a load factor f = 3X0. A reference solution is computed
on a ne mesh consisting of 5568 elements and a uniform polynomial degree up to p = 7 with a corre-
sponding number of 546,755 degrees of freedom (see Fig. 2, left mesh). Results of interest are the dis-
placements u
x
at node 5, u
y
at node 4, the stress r
yy
at node 2 and
A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935 1927
W =
1
2

X
e
T
rdX (7)
with
e = e
xx
Y e
yy
Y c
xy

T
Y r = r
xx
Y r
yy
Y r
xy

T
X
It is evident from Table 1 that all results are stable to at least 6 digits and that they can be used as a
reference for further investigations. To test now the eciency of the p-version, a second mesh consisting of
Table 1
Reference solution on a mesh with 5568 elements for load factor f = 3X0
p Degrees of freedom W Node 2 r
yy
Node 4 u
y
Node 5 u
x
1 11 292 2044.847134 623.013300 1X402843825E 01 5X089190291E 02
2 44 856 2045.261162 521.794799 1X403456683E 01 5X086476901E 02
3 100 692 2045.267638 517.562995 1X403465985E 01 5X086435253E 02
4 178 800 2045.269309 517.470322 1X403468249E 01 5X086424710E 02
5 279 180 2045.268311 517.452278 1X403466922E 01 5X086430958E 02
6 401 831 2045.268696 517.453434 1X403467423E 01 5X086428634E 02
7 546 755 2045.268489 517.453434 1X403467144E 01 5X086429928E 02
Fig. 1. Perforated square plate under uniform tension.
Fig. 2. Two meshes with 5568 and 4 elements.
1928 A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935
only 4 elements was chosen (see Fig. 2). A series of computations varying the polynomial degree uniformly
from p = 1 up to p = 19 was performed. To integrate the stiffness matrices, an integration rule with
n = (p 1)
2
Gaussian points per element was applied. In order to get an impression of the error related to
the numerical integration, the computations were also performed for an integration rule with n = 40
2
Fig. 3. Relative error
[u
xYref
uxYFE[
u
xYref
100[%[ at node 5, load factor f = 3X0.
Fig. 4. Relative error
[u
yYref
uyYFE[
u
yYref
100[%[ at node 4, load factor f = 3X0.
A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935 1929
Gaussian points per element. The results are plotted in the form of relative errors in double logarithmic
scale in Figs. 36. Regarding the computations, where an integration rule with n = (p 1)
2
Gaussian points
per element was applied, one observes that both displacements u
x
and u
y
at nodes 5 and 4, respectively, are
well within the 0.1% relative error range when using a polynomial degree p P5. Only 544 degrees of
Fig. 5. Relative error
[r
yyYref
ryyYFE[
r
yyYref
100[%[ at node 2, load factor f = 3X0.
Fig. 6. Relative error g =

[W
ref
WFE[
W
ref
q
100[%[, load factor f = 3X0.
1930 A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935
freedom with a corresponding polynomial degree p = 8 are needed to compute the stress r
yy
at node 2
(where the most critical stress concentration occurs), with a relative error less than 5%. Considering these
numerical investigations, it becomes obvious that an accuracy being relevant for practical issues can be
easily gained. Further improvement of the quality of the results can be achieved, if a more accurate inte-
gration rule is applied. This is indicated in Figs. 36, where the errors of the results of interest, gained with
an integration rule with n = 40
2
Gaussian points per element are also plotted.
4.2. Perforated square plate under uniform tension with load factor f = 4X5
Again, we choose the same benchmark system, yet now with a load factor f = 4X5, where the numerical
results for h-version computations are available. Three different meshes with 2, 4 and 10 p-elements are
chosen (see Fig. 7). A series of computations for polynomial degrees p 617 for the mesh with 2 elements
and p 69 for the meshes with 4 and 10 elements was carried out. The following results are of interest: u
y
at
node 4, u
x
at node 5 and the integral of the displacement u
y
along the edge being delimited by the nodes 4
and 5. In order to draw a comparison to an adaptive h-version, we refer to the results of Barthold, Schmidt
and Stein [3,4,6,25]. The computations there, were performed with the Q1P0 element differing from the
well-known bilinear quadrilateral element by including an additional elementwise constant pressure degree
of freedom (see [18]). A mesh consisting of 64 Q1P0 elements was rened in 10 steps using the equilibrium
criterion by Babu!ska and Miller, yielding 875 elements with 1816 degrees of freedom (see Fig. 8). In
[3,4,6,25] the results for a sequence of graded meshes and a reference solution obtained with 24,200 Q1P0
elements with a corresponding number of 49,062 degrees of freedom are also given. Comparing the results
of the uniform p-version with those of the h-version based on a sequence of graded meshes, we observe that
the efciency of the p-version is superior (see Figs. 911). The discretization with 4 elements, p = 9 and 684
degrees of freedom provides an accuracy which cannot be reached by the h-version even when using 4096
Q1P0 elements with 8320 degrees of freedom. Even compared to a h-renement, resulting in an adapted
mesh with 875 Q1P0 elements it can be seen that a uniform p-version is much more accurate. Furthermore,
Fig. 7. Three meshes with 2, 4 and 10 p-elements.
Fig. 8. Initial mesh with 64 Q1P0 elements and adapted mesh with 875 Q1P0 elements (from [3]).
A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935 1931
Fig. 9. Displacement u
y
at node 4, load factor f = 4X5.
Fig. 10. Displacement u
x
at node 5, load factor f = 4X5.
1932 A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935
Fig. 11.

n
5
n
4
[u
y
[ dx, load factor f = 4X5.
Fig. 12. von Mises stress, load factor f = 4X5, for meshes with 2, 4 and 10 elements.
A. Duster, E. Rank / Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 190 (2001) 19251935 1933
it should be noted that the p-version offers additional advantages. To compute the stiffness matrices for
p = 9, 4 10
2
= 400 integration points are needed for the mesh consisting of 4 elements. For integration of
the 875 Q1P0 stiffness matrices 875 2
2
= 3500 Gaussian points are required. Comparing these numbers it
becomes evident that the advantages of the p-version increase with the complexity of the numerical com-
putation required at each integration point. If for example, the ow theory of PrandtlReu with nonlinear
isotropic hardening were used, a nonlinear equation to determine the plastic multiplier would have to be
solved at each Gaussian point.
Returning to the Hencky model and considering the von Mises equivalent stress as shown in Fig. 12, it is
observed that results are very similar for all three meshes. Obviously, two p-elements are sufcient to
compute an excellent approximation for the given problem. The calculations were performed with p = 17
for the 2-element mesh and p = 9 for the meshes with 4 and 10 elements.
Fig. 13 shows the regions where yielding occurs, indicated by the corresponding integration points.
Within the accuracy limited by the discrete set of these points (an integration rule with n = (p 1)
2
Gaussian points was applied), the result is identical for all three discretizations.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, a uniform p-version was compared to a state-of-the-art h-version for the deformation
theory of plasticity. For a given benchmark problem, the p-version turned out to be signicantly more
accurate than the h-version, even when compared to an adaptive h-renement. We expect from our in-
vestigations that the p-version for the deformation theory is superior, as long as the computational domain
can be discretized into a small number of elements. Only when the complexity of a structure itself requires a
ne mesh, the h-version will be advantageous. Yet, as many structures can be described with only a few
p-elements, further investigation of the p-version for more complex material models seems to be very
promising.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Professor Erwin Stein and Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Schmidt from University of
Hannover for supporting this work. Extensive help has been given for a successful implementation of the
Hencky material model into our p-version code. The generous preparation of results for the benchmark
problem enabled us to draw a direct comparison between h- and p-version.
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