An efficient adaptive time-marching formulation for decoupled analysis of generalized thermo-mechanical models

In this paper, a locally-defined stabilized adaptive explicit approach is considered to analyse generalized coupled thermo-mechanical models. In this sense, a modified central difference method is applied, which performs adapting itself along the solution process, considering the properties and results of the model, as well as the relations between the adopted temporal and spatial discretizations. The proposed technique enables stabilized decoupled analyses, allowing each “phase” of the coupled model to be handled separately, without considering stability restrictions for their time solutions, providing a very versatile and efficient methodology. In addition, the new approach is designed as a single-solve framework based on reduced systems of equations, which further greatly improves the efficiency of the technique. The new method enables adaptive algorithmic dissipation in the higher modes, and it is highly accurate, simple to implement and entirely automated, requiring no decision or expertise from the user. Numerical results are presented at the end of the manuscript, illustrating the performance and effectiveness of the new approach.