Partitioned symmetric formulation and solution algorithm of thermoelastic interaction problems

A partitioned symmetric formulation and its attendant solution method of coupled thermoelastic problems are presented, which lead to improved computational efficiency and more importantly achieves improved accuracy. A key feature of the present formulation is to treat the energy flux between the elastic and the thermal conduction fields as a constraint, through which the coupling of the two partitioned field equations are effected. Exploiting the symmetric feature of the present formulation for solution efficiency, the implicit–implicit time integration is adopted, avoiding a staggered solution procedure that inherently involves predictor-correction steps. The proposed partitioned formulation is implemented and applied to some benchmark thermoelastic problems and as well as new problems, which indicate the proposed method indeed achieves both computational efficiency and improved accuracy.