Reliable computation and local mesh adaptivity in limit analysis

Abstract

The contribution is devoted to computations of the limit load for a perfectly plastic model with the von Mises yield criterion. The limit factor of a prescribed load is defined by a specific variational problem, the so-called limit analysis problem. This problem is solved in terms of deformation fields by a penalization, the finite element and the semismooth Newton methods. From the numerical solution, we derive a guaranteed upper bound of the limit factor. To achieve more accurate results, a local mesh adaptivity is used.