The use of cyclic symmetry in two-dimensional elastic analysis by the element-free Galerkin method

Abstract

Rotationally periodic (or cyclic) symmetry is exploited in the elastic analysis by the element-free Galerkin method for two-dimensional systems under arbitrary load conditions. It is proved that the coefficient matrices of the global EFG equations for the rotationally periodic system are block-circulant so long as a kind of symmetry-adapted reference co-ordinate system is adopted. Furthermore, the computational convenience and efficiency, which can be achieved by exploiting this property, are demonstrated, and an efficient algorithm is presented. A numerical example is given to illustrate the advantages of such exploitation of symmetry in the context. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.