Finite Difference Formulation

of FLAC

BASIS OF FLAC

FLAC solves the full dynamic equations of motion even for

quasi-static problems. This has advantages for problems that
involve physical instability, such as collapse, as will be
explained later. To model the static response of a system, a
relaxation scheme is used in which damping absorbs kinetic
energy. This approach can model collapse problems in a more
realistic and efficient manner than other schemes, e.g.,
matrix-solution methods.

A SIMPLE MECHANICAL ANALOG

u, u , u
F(t)

Newtons Law of Motion

F ma m

du
dt

For a continuous body, this can be generalized as

du i ij

g i
dt
x j

where = mass density,

xi = coordinate vector (x,y)
ij = components of the stress tensor, and
gi = gravitation

STRESS-STRAIN EQUATIONS
In addition to the law of motion, a continuous
material must obey a constitutive relation that is, a relation between stresses and strains.
For an elastic material this is:

In general, the form is as follows:

where

A GENERAL FINITE-DIFFERENCE FORMULA

In the finite difference method, each derivative in the
previous equations (motion & stress-strain) is replaced by
an algebraic expression relating variables at specific
locations in the grid.
The algebraic expressions are fully explicit; all quantities
on the right-hand side of the expressions are known.
Consequently each element (zone or gridpoint) in a FLAC
grid appears to be physically isolated from its neighbors
during one calculational timestep. This is the basis of the
calculation cycle:

Basic Explicit Calculation Cycle

For all gridpoints (nodes)
velocities

Equilibrium Equation
(Equation of Motion)
du i ij

g i
dt
x j

Gauss theorem

nodal forces

Fi ijn jL

For all zones (elements)

strain rates

Stress - Strain Relation

(Constitutive Equation)

new stresses

FLACs grid is internally composed of triangles. These are

combined into quadrilaterals. The scheme for deriving
difference equations for a polygon is described as follows:

Overlaid

Triangular element

Elements

with velocity vectors

Nodal force vector

FLAC:

For all elements...

Gauss theorem,

f
dA
A x
i

n fdS
S

is used to derived a finite difference formula for elements of arbitrary shape.

b

u (i b ) nodal velocity

S
a

For a polygon the formula becomes

u (i a ) nodal velocity

f
1
f n i S
x i
A S

This formula is applied to calculating the strain increments, eij, for a zone:
u i
1

u (i a ) u (i b ) n jS

x j 2 A S
eij

1 u i u j

t
2 x j x i

FLAC:

For all gridpoints...

Once all stresses have been calculated, gridpoint forces

are derived from the resulting tractions acting on the
sides of each triangle. For example,

Then a classical central finite-difference formula is used

to obtain new velocities and displacements:

( in large strain mode)

Overlay & Mixed-Discretization Formulation of FLAC:

+
Each

is constant-stress/constant-strain:

Volume strain averaged over

and

/2 =

. Deviatoric strain evaluated for

separately
(Mixed discretization procedure)

Solution is Updated Lagrangian (grid moves with the material), and

explicit (local changes do not affect neighbours in one timestep )

Methods of solution in time domain

numerical grid

displacement

stress

force

x
EXPLICIT
All elements:

F f u,

(nonlinear law)

All nodes:

u F t
m

Repeat for
n time-steps
No iterations
within steps

IMPLICIT

Assume (u)
are fixed
Assume (F)
are fixed

element

F K u
global

m u K u F

Correct if
t

x min
Cp

p-wave speed

Information cannot physically

propagate between elements during
one time step

Solve complete set of equations

for each time step
Iterate within time step if
nonlinearity present

Methods compared
Explicit, time-marching

Implicit, static

1. Can follow nonlinear laws without

internal iteration, since
displacements are frozen within
constitutive calculation.

1. Iteration of the entire process is

necessary to follow nonlinear laws

2. Solution time increases as N3/2 for

self-similar problems.

2. Solution time increases with N2 or

even N3.

3. Physical instability does not cause

numerical instability.

3. Physical instability is difficult to

model.

4. Large problems can be modeled

with small memory, since matrix is
not stored.

4. Large memory requirements, or disk

usage.

5. Large strains, displacements and

rotations are modeled without extra
computer time.

5. Significantly more time needed for

large strain models.

DYNAMIC RELAXATION
In dynamic relaxation gridpoints are moved according to
Newtons law of motion. The acceleration of a gridpoint is
proportional to the out-of-balance force. This solution scheme
determines the set of displacements that will bring the system
to equilibrium, or indicate the failure mode.
There are two important considerations with dynamic relaxation:
1) Choice of timestep
2) Effect of damping

TIMESTEP
In order to satisfy numerical stability the timestep must satisfy the
condition:

x min
t
Cp

where Cp is proportional to 1 /mgp. For static analysis, gridpoint

masses are scaled so that local critical timesteps are equal ( t 1 )
which provides the optimum speed of convergence. Nodal inertial
masses are then adjusted to fulfill the stability condition:

Note that gravitational masses are not affected.

DAMPING
Velocity-proportional damping introduces body forces that can
affect the solution.
Local damping is used in FLAC --- The damping force at a
gridpoint is proportional to the magnitude of the unbalanced
force with the sign set to ensure that vibrational modes are
damped:

LOCAL DAMPING

Damping forces are introduced to the equations of motion:

u i Fi | Fi | sgn (u i )

t
m

where Fi is the unbalanced force

The damping force, Fd is:

Fd Fi sgn(u i )
In FLAC the unbalanced force ratio (ratio of unbalanced force, Fi , to the
applied force magnitude, Fm) is monitored to determine the static state.
By default, when Fi / Fm < 0.001, then the model is considered to be in an
equilibrium state.