Automated Solution of Partial Differential Equations with Discontinuities using the Partition of Unity Method

Although computers were invented to automate tedious and error-prone tasks, computer programming is a tedious and error-prone task itself. This is a well-known paradox in the field of computational mathematical modelling. Recently, automatic code generation has been proposed to solve this paradox. In this approach, a required code to model...

Multiscale and probabilistic modelling of micro electromechanical systems

Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) are nowadays used in many applications, such as airbag accelerometers and inkjet printer heads. With the number of applications growing, the need for advanced numerical tools to aid in the design of MEMS increases. The development of such tools is far from trivial, since numerical modelling of MEMS poses...

Lifetime Modeling of Thermal Barrier Coatings

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are applied in gas turbines to enhance their thermal efficiency by isolating the metallic components from the aggressive hot gas. TBC lifetime is limited by damage processes originating at internal interfaces, which may ultimately lead to delamination and spallation. In the present thesis constitutive models are...

Discontinuities in materials and structures: A unifying computational approach

Failure mechanisms in materials and structures can be studied on different length scales. On a structural level, failure can be observed as the propagation of a single crack. However, when zooming into the apparent crack tip, it is revealed that the actual failure process is set by the nucleation and growth of multiple micro-cracks that together...