A dual domain decomposition algorithm for the analysis of non-conforming isogeometric Kirchhoff-Love shells

Originally, Isogeometric Analysis is aimed at using geometric models for the structural analysis. The actual realization of this objective to complex real-world structures requires a special treatment of the non-conformities between the patches generated during the geometric modeling. Different advanced numerical tools now enable to analyze elaborated multipatch models, especially regarding the imposition of the interface coupling conditions. However, in order to push forward the isogeometric concept, a closer look at the algorithm of resolution for multipatch geometries seems crucial. Hence, we present a dual Domain Decomposition algorithm for accurately analyzing non-conforming multipatch Kirchhoff-Love shells. The starting point is the use of a Mortar method for imposing the coupling conditions between the shells. The additional degrees of freedom coming from the Lagrange multiplier field enable to formulate an interface problem, known as the one-level FETI problem. The interface problem is solved using an iterative solver where, at each iteration, only local quantities defined at the patch level (i.e. per sub-domain) are involved which makes the overall algorithm naturally parallelizable. We study the preconditioning step in order to get an algorithm which is numerically scalable. Several examples ranging from simple benchmark cases to semi-industrial problems highlight the great potential of the method. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.