Isogeometric Analysis on Trimmed Solids: A B-Spline-Based Approach Focusing on Explicit Dynamics

Engineering workflows are habitually split into a modelling phase and a consecutive analysis phase, which is primarily driven by the finite element method (FEM). However, bridging the gap between design and analysis remains a sophisticated problem and may consume a vast amount of computational as well as manual operations, especially in highly iterative development processes. To avoid this major bottleneck, Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) [1] and later Isogeometric B-Rep Analysis [2] were developed. They rely on the mathematical descriptions of Computer Aided Design (CAD), such as NURBS- and B-Spline-based boundary representation (B-Rep) models. However, classical B-Rep formulations describe a solid only by its boundary faces and do neither provide any physical nor geometrical description of the interior. Therefore, the IGA concept cannot be applied to three-dimensional structures in a straightforward manner.