Undesired oscillations often emerge in numerical solutions, especially in the case of dynamic problems. These are mainly spurious oscillations which must be eliminated or reduced at least to provide accurate results. Numerical methods with damping effect are especially useful to achieve this goal. However, the concrete shape of the damping characteristics has a great impact on the effectiveness. Dissipative numerical methods mostly have a specific damping character with very limited alteration possibility. In this article, a novel numerical method has been introduced where the dissipative effect is exerted via viscous damping. Using the proposed method, a great variety of damping curves can be defined accurately, straight through the determination of the algorithmic damping ratio. The newly developed technique is mainly useful for applications where the shape of the damping characteristics significantly affects the accuracy.

Dynamic contact and impact problems are widely applicable. An accurate solution method for these kinds of problems can be used in many fields of mechanical engineering (e.g., cutting metalwork, cogwheel drives, etc.). However, the proper handling of the contact is problematic, as there emerges a substantial amount of nonlinearity in the displacement field. Therefore, a spurious high frequency oscillation is present in the solution. These oscillations must be avoided, as divergence can easily occur in the contact algorithm due to them. In order to eliminate this effect, the applied numerical method must be chosen and set properly. In this study, a comprehensive guide is provided for the appropriate selection of the proper numerical method and its parameters.

The presented work focuses on the development of a novel method that can numerically describe the properties of metal matrix syntactic foam (MMSF) with low memory requirements and short computational times without losing the properties of the interior structure. In this paper, we propose a novel method that avoids using the homogenization technique and instead rearranges stiffness matrices and constructs specific substructures to perform the overall construction. The two-dimensional cases are discussed in order to focus on the methodology itself. First, the reductions and structural design with solid mesh structures were performed, and then the model was applied on structures filled with iron hollow spheres. So far, the method has been used to evaluate small deformations to see how suitable the subspace technique is for describing metal foams. Aluminum was used as the matrix material, as it is one of the most common materials for MMSFs. The optimal parameters were searched that resulted in the shortest running time for the given construction. Since in the proposed substructure technique only the displacement values at the boundary points are computed, a back-calculation step for each selected substructure was performed to see the interior deformations in the vicinity of an iron hollow sphere.

Structural simulations of electric motors require precise material models. Laminate stacks that are made of several identical steel sheets are particularly challenging to simulate using FEA. The structural stiffness of laminate stacks usually follows transversal isotropic behavior. Measuring a complete laminate stack used in passenger cars is challenging due to its size and the high testing load needed to reach real loads experienced while in operation. A new method capable of performing such measurements is presented in this article, with the help of equipment normally used for testing structures used in civil engineering. Two sets of exemplary results are presented utilizing this measurement procedure, that were performed on a real automotive rotor laminate stack: axial compression stiffness from a cyclic test, and shear stiffness at various axial preload levels. In the axial compression load case, the loading and unloading curves form a hysteresis, that changes in every test cycle. Shear stiffness shows high dependance on the axial compression preload. After loading and unloading the stack with shear loads, significant plastic deformations remain.

In the modern automotive industry, one of the most challenging tasks is minimizing energy losses caused by friction. Despite its significance, only a limited number of numerical simulation tools are available for effectively addressing lubrication-related problems. The accurate modeling of lubrication phenomena requires solving a specialized form of the Navier–Stokes equations, which accounts for cavitation effects within a thin fluid film. To address this, a finite element software is currently under development to solve the Reynolds equation while incorporating cavitation effect. This advanced tool enables the precise simulation of how the microgeometry of contacting surfaces influences the lubrication characteristics of the fluid film. By optimizing these surface features, the research aims not only to reduce energy dissipation but also to ensure the long-term durability of mechanical components. The findings obtained thus far demonstrate promising improvements in lubrication efficiency and structural longevity. These results, along with the methodological advancements, will be presented in detail at the upcoming conference.

The numerical solution of dynamic problems often results spurious oscillations that deteriorates the accuracy. In order to eliminate them, a damping effect must be included in the numerical scheme. However, the concrete shape of the damping characteristics has a great importance in the efficiency of oscillation reduction. In this article, a novel approach has been introduced with adjustable damping character. The damping effect is exerted as viscous damping according to the formulation of Caughey damping. Using the proposed method, a wide range of different damping curves can be approximated with high accuracy. The newly developed method is mainly useful for contact-impact and wave propagation problems.