A GENERAL VISCOELASTIC ANALYSIS BY THE BOUNDARY ELEMENT

METHOD
Arthur Dias Mesquita
1
,
and Humberto Breves Coda
2

ABSTRACT
From basic assumptions of viscoelastic constitutive relations and weight residual techniques a
Boundary Element procedure is achieved for both Kelvin and Boltzmann models. Imposing spatial
approximations and adopting convenient kinematical relations for strain velocities, a system of time
differential equations is achieved. This system is solved adopting linear approximations for displacements,
resulting in a time marching methodology. This approach avoids the use of relaxation functions and makes
easier changes in boundary conditions along time, natural or essential. An important feature of the resulting
technique is the absence of domain discretizations, which simplifies the treatment of problems involving
infinite domains (tunnels and cavities inside the soil). Some examples are shown in order to demonstrate
the accuracy and stability of the technique when compared to analytical solutions.
Keywords: Viscoelasticity, Boundary Elements, Time integration.
INTRODUCTION
In some recent works (see e.g. Mesquita et al (2001), Mesquita and Coda (2001), Mesquita
and Coda (2001)) the authors developed a new time marching process for both Finite Element
Method (FEM) and Boundary Element Method (BEM) to solve viscoelastic problems. These
formulations are based on differential constitutive relation for Kelvin and Boltzmann viscoelastic
models.The novelty and main objective of this paper is avoiding internal cells, resulting in a
viscoelastic Boundary Element formulation performing discretizations only at the boundary of
the analysed body. Another feature of the developed formulation is that, for Boltzmann model,
the total time dependent displacements and stresses are achieved directly from the time marching
process. The formulation proposed here is quite different from the ones usually found in literature.
The most of the works developed so far follows, basically, three main procedures. All of them are
based on relaxation functions or Laplace-Carson transforms (see e.g. Lemaitre and Chaboche
(1990), Flgge (1967), Sobotka (1984), Christensen (1982)). Various examples are shown in
order to demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the formulation.

1
Dept. of Structural Eng., University of So Paulo, So Carlos, SP/Br 13566960. E-mail: mesquita@sc.sup.br
2
Dept. of Structural Eng., University of So Paulo, So Carlos, SP/Br 13566960. E-mail: hbcoda@sc.sup.br







2
BASIC RELATIONS FOR VISCOELASTICITY
This section is divided into two main parts related to the Kelvin and Boltzmann relations.
Kelvins model
Using rheological models defined in the uniaxia l space is the usual way adopted to describe
the viscoelastic behaviour of solids. A simple representation, very often adopted to describe this
kind of behaviour, is the Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic, figure 1.
E

Fig. 1. KelvinVoigt viscoelastic model (uniaxial representation).
From figure 1, the following relations are stated:

v
ij
e
ij ij
(1)

v
ij
e
ij ij
+ (2)

The elastic stress can be written in terms of strain components, as follows,

lm
lm
ij
e
lm
lm
ij
e
ij
C C (3)

Similarly, the following relation gives the viscous stress components:

lm
lm
ij
v
lm
lm
ij
v
ij
& & (4)

In this work, a further simplification is assumed, i.e.,

, in order to obtain only
boundary values at the integral equations. From the previous equations one writes:

lm
lm
ij lm
lm
ij ij
C C & + (5)

The actual infinitesimal equilibrium equation is written as follows:

j j j
v
i , ij
e
i , ij
u c u b & & & + + + (6)

Expression (6) is rewritten for the absence of inertial and frictional forces, as:

0 b
j
v
i , ij
e
i , ij
+ + (7)






3
Boltzmann model
Another viscous representation is the so-called standard Boltzmann model. This model can
be described in a uniaxial representation, as illustrated in figure 2.


Fig. 2: Boltzmann viscoelastic model(uniaxial representation)
This model is represented by a serial arrangement of Kelvin model and an elastic relation. It
reproduces both instantaneous and viscous behaviour of a material. From figure 2 one writes:

ve
ij
e
ij ij
(8)

ve
lm
e
lm lm
+ (9)

v
ij
e
ij
ve
ij
+
l
(10)

From previous equations, one writes (Mesquita & Coda (2001)):

ij
e ve
ve
lm
lm
ij
e ve
e ve
lm
lm
ij
e ve
e ve
ij
E E
E
C
~
E E
E E
C
~
E E
E E

& &

,
_

,
_

+
+

,
_

+
(11)
INTEGRAL AND NUMERICAL EQUATIONS
In order to save space, the usual passages are skipped, for more details one can see Mesquita
et al (2001), Mesquita and Coda (2001), Mesquita and Coda (2001).
Kelvins model
From equations (5) and (7), following weighting residual technique it is possible to find:



d B b d u p d u p d p u ) p ( u C ) p ( u C
ki i i ki i ki i
*
ki i ki i ki


+ + & & (12)

The term
ki
C is the same obtained in elastostatic formulations. Writing equation (12) for
internal points, differentiating it concerning the source point position and using the viscoelastic
stress strain relation, results:

d B b d u p d u p d p ) p ( ) p (
iq i i iq i iq i
*
iq
v
q
e
q


+ + & (13)

Using equation (2), equation (13) turns into:

d B b d u p d u p d p ) p (
iq i i iq i iq i
*
iq q


+ & (14)

E
e
E
ve

e

ve







4
In this scheme equation (3) is written in the following form (Mesquita et al (2001)):

el
ij
v
ij
v
ij
ve
lm
lm
ij
ve
lm
lm
ij
el
ij
1
C
1
C

& & & & (15)

Substituting the above relation into equation (2) results:

0
ij
e
ij
e
ij
+ & (16)

All variables are approximated in space and time. In space isoparametric quadratic boundary
elements are adopted and all integrals are made as in any BEM formulation, resulting:

) t ( Bb ) t ( GP ) t ( U H ) t ( HU + +
&
(17)

) t ( b ' B ) t ( U ' H ) t ( U ' H ) t ( P ' G ) t ( +
&
(18)

To solve equation (17) linear time approximation for velocity is adopted, resulting:

s 1 s 1 s
F GP U H +
+ +
(19)

where

H
t
1 H

,
_

(20)
1 s s s
Bb HU
t
F
+
+

(21)

The system (19) is solved for actual time, i.e., t
s+1.
The boundary conditions along time are
prescribed by interchanging columns of H and G .To calculate the total stress the same time
approximation is applied on equation(18), i.e.:

1 s 1 s 1 s 1 s 1 s
b ' B U ' H U ' H P ' G
+ + + + +
+
&
(22)

The elastic stress is calculated applying linear time approximation on equation (16).

,
_

+
,
_

+
+ +
t
1
t
e
s 1 s
e
1 s

(23)

The viscous part comes from equation (2).
Boltzmann model
From equations (11) and (7), it is possible to write:







5
[ ]



d B b
E
E E
d B b d p u
) p ( u C d u p d u p d p u
E
E E
) p ( u C
ki i
ve
ve e
ki i i ki
i ki i ki i ki i
*
ki
ve
ve e
i ki




+
+ +
+
+

&
&
& &
(24)

The stress integral representation for total stress is given by:

[ ] ) p (
E E
E
d B b d B b d p
E E
E
d u p
E E
E
d u p
E E
E
d p ) p (
q
ve e
ve *
iq i
*
iq i i
*
iq
ve e
ve
i iq
ve e
ve
i iq
ve e
ve
i
*
iq q

&
&
&
&
+
+ +
+
+
+

+




(25)

The elastic instantaneous stress and the viscoelastic stress are equal to the total stress. It is
necessary to separate the viscous and elastic parts of the viscoelastic stress, as:

el
ij
v
ij
v
ij
ve
lm
lm
ij
ve
lm
lm
ij
el
ij
1
C
1
C

& & & & (26)

Substituting equation (26) into equation (10) results the following differential equation.

0 +
ij
el
ij
el
ij
& (27)

All variables are approximated in space and time, resulting:

) t ( Bb
E
E E
) t ( b B ) t ( P G ) t ( U H ) t ( GP
E
E E
) t ( HU
ve
ve e
ve
ve e
+
+ + +
+

& & &

(28)

) t (
E E
E
) t ( b ' B ) t ( b ' B
E E
E
) t ( P ' G
E E
E
) t ( U ' H
E E
E
) t ( U ' H
E E
E
) t ( P ' G ) t (
ve e
ve
ve e
ve
ve e
ve
ve e
ve
ve e
ve

&
&
& &
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+

(29)

To solve equations (28) and (29) and (27) linear time approximation is used for all variables,
resulting:

s 1 s
ve
ve e
1 s
F GP
E
E E
t
U H +

,
_

+
+
+ +

(30)

where

H
t
1 H
,
_

(31)
1
1
]
1

,
_

+
+ +
+ s 1 s
ve
ve e
s s s
b
t
b
E
E E
t
B GP
t
HU
t
F

(32)







6
The time dependent boundary conditions are prescribed by interchanging columns of H and
G . Using the results,
1 s
U
+
and
1 s
P
+
, one calculates
1 s
P
+
&
,
1 s
U
+
&
and
1 s
b
+
&
. From these values, it is
easy to calculate the total stress level at
1 s
t
+
as follows:

+

+
+
+
+
+
+

+

+ + + + + + + 1 s 1 s
ve e
ve
1 s
ve e
ve
1 s
ve e
ve
1 s
ve e
ve
1 s 1 s
b ' B b ' B
E E
E
P ' G
E E
E
U ' H
E E
E
U ' H
E E
E
P ' G
& & &

,
_

+
+

,
_
+
+
ve e
ve
s
ve e
ve
E E
E
t
1
E E
E
t

(33)

The elastic stress at the viscoelastic part of the Boltzmann model is:

,
_

+
,
_

+
+ +
t t
el
s s
el
s

1
1 1
(34)

From expression (10) and equation (34), one achieves the viscous stress
EXAMPLES
Kelvin viscoelastic model
Thick cylinder subjected to a sudden internal pressure P
The geometry, discretization and physical properties are depicted in figure 3.
y
R
1
R
2
P
x
x
y

Physical properties Geometry
E1=350N/cm
2
R1=25.4cm
=0.4 R2=50.8cm
=7.14285days

Time parameters Loading
t=1.0day P=70.31 N/cm
2





Fig. 3. Geometry, discretization and physical properties.

The inner and outer wall radial displacements obtained applying this numerical formulation
are compared with the analytical ones in figures 4(a) and (b), respectively. The numerical results
were obtained adopting a time step of one day.
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Time(days)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
D
is
p
la
c
e
m
e
n
t
(
c
m
)
Analytic
BEM

0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Time(days)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
D
i
s
p
la
c
e
m
e
n
t
(
c
m
)
Analytic
BEM

Fig. 4. (a) inner wall displacement, (b) outer wall displacement






7

The numerical behaviour is almost the same as the analytical one.
Boltzmann viscoelastic model
Simple stressed bar
The structure is modelled by quadratic boundary elements, a quarter of the body is discretized.
The geometry, discretization and physical properties are given in figure 5.
B
A
L
h P
x
y

Physical properties Geometry
E1=22.5757kN/mm
2
L=800mm
E2=350N/cm
2
h=100mm
=0.0
=45.454545days

Time parameters Loading
t=1.0day P=5 N/mm
2



Fig. 5. Geometry, discretization and physical properties.

In figure 6(a) the displacement of point A is given regarding time steps length. One can see that
the results are very stable and converges to the analytical solution. The time step length is varied
from one day to fifth days.
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Time(days)
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
D
is
p
la
c
e
m
e
n
t
(
c
m
)
1day
5days
10days
25days
50days

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Time(days)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t
(
m
m
)
Analytic
BEM

Fig. 6. (a) Time step sensibility, (b) Varying loading

The results for stresses are as good as the obtained for displacement, but are omitted here to
save space. In figure 6(b) the displacement of point A is shown when the load is removed at day
200. The adopted time step is one day.
Tunnel subjected to a sudden internal pressure P


y
r
x
P
soil




Physical properties Geometry
E1=900N/cm
2
r=25.4cm
E2=350N/cm
2

=0.4
=7.14285days

Time parameters Loading
t=0.5days P=70.31N/cm
2



0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Time(days)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
D
i
s
p
la
c
e
m
e
n
t
(
c
m
)
Analytic
BEM

Fig. 7. (a) Discretization, (b) Physical properties, (c) Radial displacement






8


This example exhibits that using the proposed formulation it is possible solving an exterior
Boltzmann (or general) viscoelastic problem using only a boundary discretization. The cavity is
modeled by adopting quadratic boundary elements, as depicted in figure 7(a). The physical
parameters are shown in figure 7(b). The tunnel radial displacement behavior is shown in figure
7(c), it is hard distinguishing the numerical and the analytical results (plane stress).
CONCLUSIONS
It has been shown, along the paper, a stable and accurate way to perform viscoelastic
analysis by the Boundary Element Method. It consists in considering the viscous elastic relation
as a non-local property of the continuum. From this assumption, the time integration should be
done after spatial approximation. The main advantage of the presented technique is that the
integral representation posses only boundary values. It has been imposed a spatial approximation
for boundary values achieving a system of time differential equations. Adopting linear time
approximation for velocity, surface force and stress rates one easily solves this system. A very
elegant treatment is given for the stress determination. The proposed formulation has been
developed and implemented for both Kelvin and Boltzmann viscoelastic models. Any desired
viscous model could be added to the formulation following similar steps.
REFERECES
Christensen, R.M., (1982) Theory of Viscoelasticity. Academic Press, New York.
Flgge, W., (1967) Viscoelasticity. Blaisdell Pub., USA.
Lemaitre, J. and Chaboche, J.L.(1990) Mechanics of Solids, Cambridge University Press.
Mesquita, A.D.; Coda, H.B. and Venturini, W.S. (2001) An alternative Time marching process
for viscoelastic analysis by BEM and FEM, International Journal for Numerical Methods in
Engineering,, 51: 1157-1173.
Mesquita, A.D. & Coda, H.B. (2001) Alternative Kelvin viscoelastic Model for Finite Elements,
Applied Mathematical Modelling. (In revision)
Mesquita, A.D. & Coda, H.B.(2001) An Alternative time integration for Boltzmann viscoelastic
model: a BEM approach,, Computer and Structures, Accepted.
Sobotka, Z.(1984) Rheology of materials and engineering structures. Elsevier Science
Publishers, Prague, Czechoslovakia.
APPENDIX I. NOTATION
The following symbols were used (strain), (stress), (viscous compliances), C (elastic
compliances), (viscous parameters), (unified viscous parameter), b (domain forces),
u (displacements), p (surface forces), E (Young modulus), (domain), (boundary),
e (elastic), ve (viscoelastic), v (viscous), l e (elastic Boltzmann), t (time), s (discrete time).