A Novel Sub-Stepping Method with Numerical Dissipation Control for Time Integration of Highly Flexible Structures

Sub-stepping time integration methods attempt to march each time step with multiple sub-steps. Generally, for the first sub-step, a single-step method is applied and the following sub-steps are solved using a method that utilizes the data obtained from two or three previous equilibrium points. Despite the robust stability in problems, control of numerical dissipation in sub-stepping schemes is a tough task due to applying different algorithms on a time increment. In order to overcome this insufficiency, a new sub-stepping time integration scheme, which uses two sub-steps in each time increment, is proposed. Newmark and quadratic acceleration methods are applied on the first and second sub-steps, respectively. Both methods utilize constant parameters that enable the control of numerical dissipation in the analysis. For the proposed method, the stability analysis revealed the unconditional stability region for the pertinent parameters. Additionally, the precision investigation disclosed an advantage of the proposed method with the presence of minor period elongation error. Finally, the application of the proposed method is illuminated via several numerical examples. In addition to numerical dissipation control, the proposed method proved to have an outstanding advantage over other methods in solving highly flexible structures more efficiently and more accurately.