Coupled Eulerian Lagrange (CEL) Analysis

with ABAQUS
This analysis techniques combines two mesh approaches-Lagrangian and Eulerian-in the same
analysis. The purpose of this technique is to avoid mesh problems when performing simulations
that involve high/extreme deformations. The most common mesh approach used in finite
elements is the Lagrangian approach (discussed later), this approach is not suitable for cases
where excessive element distortion is expected. In such cases Eulerian meshing approach is
more suitable. The CEL method enables the user to selectively mesh the analysis components
accordingly-the components/bodies undergoing large deformations can be meshed using
Eulerian technique while the remaining using the conventional Lagrangian technique. The
interaction behavior between the two is modelled by Contact definition.

Eulerian and Lagrangian Approach

Let’s assume for a second that you are Mr. Euler and also assume for our convenience that
cars have been invented already (almost a hundred years before they were, originally). Now
you are standing on a street in Basel and observing the cars passing by. You want to
understand the motion of the automobiles passing by, you can do that in various ways but you
decide to do it the following way. You log the time at which a car passes by you at some
street corner, let’s say A. After a while you happen to be standing at some other street corner
B and you see the same car passing by, you again log the time. Now you can find the average
velocity of the car between those two street corners if you know the distance between them.
Time is just one of the several properties that you can log. You can observe any property you
like such as color of the car, the person driving the car, the noise generated by the car etc. As
long as you observe them while you are standing at a fixed location (in our case a street
corner) you are following the Eulerian approach to observing the motion of a body.

Now assume you are Mr. Lagrange and also want to understand the motion of cars passing by
the streets in Turin. As this task can be carried out in many ways and since you are a teenage
assistant professor, you decide to run along with the car from one point to another instead of
standing like your older friend Mr. Euler. So you follow the car at every point along its
journey and you can trace the path taken by the car. This method of observing the property of
an object in motion or deformation is called the Lagrange method.
How these two different approaches are implemented in finite element solvers will be
discussed next.

Mesh

Source
(https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Nonlinear_finite_elements/Lagrangian_and_Eulerian_descript
ions)

How these two approaches are used in a finite element setting can be observed from the above
figure. The Lagrangian mesh is attached to the material points. As the material deforms, the
mesh deform with it. In contrast, the Eulerian mesh acts as a background grid. The mesh sta ys
the same as the material deforms (or flows) inside the mesh. The extent of deformation in this
case is measured when the material particle flows across an element node.

Implementation in ABAQUS
This section only mentions the important points that one should consider when performing a
CEL simulation in ABAQUS.

Let’s assume you have to simulate the deformation of a simple block under pressure.

In the conventional Lagrangian approach, you will mesh the part itself (i.e. attach the mesh to
the material) while in the CEL approach you will first create an Eulerian part/mesh and define
the Lagrangian part as “elements filled with the given material” inside it. As the material
deforms, it flows inside the Eulerian mesh.

Part Dimensions

When performing a CEL simulation, the part dimensions of both Eulerian and Lagrangian
parts should be carefully selected. Remember that Eulerian part acts as a background grid
within which material flows, so the size of the Eulerian part should be selected in such a way
that no material is expected to flow out of it during simulations, because as it flows out it
becomes invisible to the ABAQUS solver.

Example
We will simulate penetration of an anvil inside an “Elastic-isotropic plastic” block. The
material chosen for simulation is steel and the dimensions of the parts are selected to keep the
number of total nodes within the limits prescribed by ABAQUS Student Version (i.e. 1000
nodes)

I have tried to provide screenshots of all the required steps, but it is highly likely that I
overlook a step that may look straight forward from my perspective. Hopefully, it does not
happen often.

Number of Parts created: 3

1. Punch (Lagrangian – 3D Deformable)

2. Steel Block (Lagrangian – 3D Deformable)
3. Eulerian Part (Eulerian – 3D Deformable)

Exploded View
Assembled

Dimensions of the Eulerian Part:

The dimensions of the Eulerian part should be selected carefully. You should consider this as
a fluid problem, you can think of the eulerian part as a die or a control volume inside which
the steel will flow as it deforms.

Create Eulerian Part

Open ABAQUS and create the relevant parts

Start corner: 0,0,0

End corner: 2,1.2,0

Then press Middle click or Right click > Cancel Procedure. After that the following dialog
appears. Click on Done

Enter the Extrusion depth for the solid

Enter 0.2 and press OK

The part should appear in the Model tree of the left

Create Lagrangian part

Right Click on Parts > Create

Again select the “Create Rectangle” option and enter the following coordinates as start and
end points

Start corner: 0,0,0

End corner: 2,1,0 (For Eulerian part y-cord was 1.2)

Middle click or Right click > Cancel Procedure

Press Done and enter Extrusion Depth as 0.2 again.

Creat Punch

Right Mouse Click on Parts > Create Parts

We need to create a sketch that looks like this,

You can do this in many ways (i.e you may use arc, circles etc). I have done this as follows
Draw 3 lines as shown and click on add dimension, then dimension the part as shown,

Enter 0.1 as dimension value

Now create a circle

Select the intersection point between vertical and top horizontal line as center of the circle and
the bottom horizontal line as perimeter point.

Now Trim (remove) the top part of the circle.

Click on Create Lines and create a rectangular sketch over the semi-circle
again click on create lines and draw a line as shown

Trim the protruding edge

Equate the length of the two vertical lines

observe

select the two vertical lines by holding shift

Dimension the lines

Enter 0.05 as dimension value

Now right click anywhere inside the sketch window and click on Cancel Procedure

Then click on Done

The program will prompt for Extrusion Depth

Enter 0.2 and Press OK

Define Material Properties

I have just used an elastic-perfectly plastic material. Since CEL analysis requires a dynamic
step, we need to define the density of the material. I have kept the density very high to increase
the time increment. As time increment is proportional to the square root of the density.

Units: N,mm,tonne, (Density artificially kept high)

Right click on model tree in the materials

Enter any name for the material, you will use this name will be used as a pointer to this material
later
After creating a material, you need to create a section. In ABAQUS materials are not directly
assigned to a body, but you have to create a section that includes the material and then you
assign that section to the body.

To create a section, again in model tree, right click on sections > Create

You need to create 2 sections, one that defines that the material behavior is Eulerian and one
that defines Lagrangian behavior

Lagrangian Section
Select the options as shown in the left pic (above) and click on continue, then select the material
that you defined earlier. Press OK

Eulerian Section

Select Type: Eulerian, click on continue then select the material created earlier in the Base
Material field. Press OK.

You may have noticed that you are using the same material definition for different physical
behaviors. This is one of the advantages of using Sections and materials separately, but in the
beginning you may find it confusing.

Now that we have created sections, we need to assign these sections to our parts. To assign
them, you have go into the menu items of individual parts.
When you click on create, abaqus prompts you to select the regions on which the section needs
to defined. This is because you can create a part with partitions (discussed later) and assign
different sections (i.e. material properties) to that part. Obviously you have to consider if the
properties are compatible or consistent. Anyway select the Part from the viewport, Press Done
at the bottom of the viewport and assign the section that we named “Eulerian”

Similarly, do this for the Punch and Largrangian part and select the appropriate section ( the
one named “Solid” in this tutorial).
Now that we have created the Parts and assigned them material behavior, we need to assemble
them. For this we have to use the Assembly module