Spline Continuity and THB-Spline Local Refinement in Thermomechanical Analysis with Localized Heat Sources
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Thermomechanical simulations with localized heat sources are affected by the approximation spaces used for temperature and displacement. This paper examines spline continuity and truncated hierarchical B-spline (THB-spline) local refinement on a shared physical mesh. Degree-p displacement is combined with degree-p or degree-(p−1) temperature, and temperatures are evaluated at common Gauss points to compute thermal strains. The interpretation distinguishes directional polynomial degrees on parametric elements from interelement continuity and geometry-mapping effects. A linear thermoelastic benchmark with a body source constructed from a Mokrov-type target temperature profile compares B-splines and Bézier elements, together with ring and central THB-spline refinement. A constant-property, plane-strain plate benchmark with a moving heat source extends the comparisons to thermoelastoplastic response, including thermal histories and path-based THB refinement. Reduced-order temperature generally decreases visible stress oscillations and lowers the relative sampled-line stress error in 18 of 24 matched Mokrov-benchmark comparisons; six comparisons have larger errors. In the moving-heat-source thermoelastoplastic benchmark, path-based THB refinement concentrates resolution near the source trajectory using approximately 45% of the field unknowns of uniform B-splines, while reduced-order temperature produces smoother stress profiles on the same hierarchical mesh.
Source: Metals
DOI: 10.3390/met16111218
Authors: Yunhao Zeng, Yongliang Geng, Xuan Peng
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Mechanics
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W7225331508