35-XX PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
Refine
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (12)
- Master's Thesis (2)
Language
- English (14)
Has Fulltext
- yes (14)
Keywords
- isogeometric analysis (3)
- NURBS (2)
- Partial Differential Equations (2)
- Adjoint method (1)
- Asymptotic Analysis (1)
- B-Spline (1)
- B-splines (1)
- Beam models (1)
- Bernstein–Gelfand–Gelfand construction (1)
- Differential forms (1)
Faculty / Organisational entity
Understanding human crowd behaviour has been an intriguing topic of interdisciplinary research in recent decades. Modelling of crowd dynamics using differential equations is an indispensable approach to unraveling the various complex dynamics involved in such interacting particle systems. Numerical simulation of pedestrian crowd via these mathematical models allows us to study different realistic scenarios beyond the limitations of studies via controlled experiments.
In this thesis, the main objective is to understand and analyse the dynamics in a domain shared by both pedestrians and moving obstacles. We model pedestrian motion by combining the social force concept with the idea of optimal path computation. This leads to a system of ordinary differential equations governing the dynamics of individual pedestrians via the interaction forces (social forces) between them. Additionally, a non-local force term involving the optimal path and desired velocity governs the pedestrian trajectory. The optimal path computation involves solving a time-independent Eikonal equation, which is coupled to the system of ODEs. A hydrodynamic model is developed from this microscopic model via the mean-field limit.
To consider the interaction with moving obstacles in the domain, we model a set of kinematic equations for the obstacle motion. Two kinds of obstacles are considered - "passive", which move in their predefined trajectories and have only a one-way interaction with pedestrians, and "dynamic", which have a feedback interaction with pedestrians and have their trajectories changing dynamically. The coupled model of pedestrians and obstacles is used to discern pedestrian collision avoidance behaviour in different computational scenarios in a long rectangular domain. We observe that pedestrians avoid collisions through route choice strategies that involve changes in speed and path. We extend this model to consider the interaction between pedestrians and vehicular traffic. We appropriately model the interactions of vehicles, following lane traffic, based on the car-following approach. We observe how the deceleration and braking mechanism of vehicles is executed at pedestrian crossings depending on the right of way on the roads.
As a second objective, we study the disease contagion in moving crowds. We consider the influence of the crowd motion in a complex dynamical environment on the course of infection of pedestrians. A hydrodynamic model for multi-group pedestrian flow is derived from the kinetic equations based on a social force model. It is coupled along with an Eikonal equation to a non-local SEIS contagion model for disease spread. Here, apart from the description of local contacts, the influence of contact times has also been modelled. We observe that the nature of the flow and the geometry of the domain lead to changes in density which affect the contact time and, consequently, the rate of spread of infection.
Finally, the social force model is compared to a variable speed based rational behaviour pedestrian model. We derive a hierarchy of the heuristics-based model from microscopic to macroscopic scales and numerically investigate these models in different density scenarios. Various numerical test cases are considered, including uni- and bi-directional flows and scenarios with and without obstacles. We observe that in low-density scenarios, collision avoidance forces arising from the behavioural heuristics give valid results. Whereas in high-density scenarios, repulsive force terms are essential.
The numerical simulations of all the models are carried out using a mesh-free particle method based on least square approximations. The meshfree numerical framework provides an efficient and elegant way to handle complex geometric situations involving boundaries and stationary or moving obstacles.
Mechanistic disease spread models for different vector borne diseases have been studied from the 19th century. The relevance of mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of disease spread is increasing nowadays. This thesis focuses on the compartmental models of the vector-borne diseases that are also transmitted directly among humans. An example of such an arboviral disease that falls under this category is the Zika Virus disease. The study begins with a compartmental SIRUV model and its mathematical analysis. The non-trivial relationship between the basic reproduction number obtained through two methods have been discussed. The analytical results that are mathematically proven for this model are numerically verified. Another SIRUV model is presented by considering a different formulation of the model parameters and the newly obtained model is shown to be clearly incorporating the dependence on the ratio of mosquito population size to human population size in the disease spread. In order to incorporate the spatial as well as temporal dynamics of the disease spread, a meta-population model based on the SIRUV model was developed. The space domain under consideration are divided into patches which may denote mutually exclusive spatial entities like administrative areas, districts, provinces, cities, states or even countries. The research focused only on the short term movements or commuting behavior of humans across the patches. This is incorportated in the multi-patch meta-population model using a matrix of residence time fractions of humans in each patches. Mathematically simplified analytical results are deduced by which it is shown that, for an exemplary scenario that is numerically studied, the multi-patch model also admits the threshold properties that the single patch SIRUV model holds. The relevance of commuting behavior of humans in the disease spread has been presented using the numerical results from this model. The local and non-local commuting are incorporated into the meta-population model in a numerical example. Later, a PDE model is developed from the multi-patch model.
Mixed Isogeometric Methods for Hodge–Laplace Problems induced by Second-Order Hilbert Complexes
(2024)
Partial differential equations (PDEs) play a crucial role in mathematics and physics to describe numerous physical processes. In numerical computations within the scope of PDE problems, the transition from classical to weak solutions is often meaningful. The latter may not precisely satisfy the original PDE, but they fulfill a weak variational formulation, which, in turn, is suitable for the discretization concept of Finite Elements (FE). A central concept in this context is the
well-posed problem. A class of PDE problems for which not only well-posedness statements but also suitable weak formulations are known are the so-called abstract Hodge–Laplace problems. These can be derived from Hilbert complexes and constitute a central aspect of the Finite Element Exterior Calculus (FEEC).
This thesis addresses the discretization of mixed formulations of Hodge-Laplace problems, focusing on two key aspects. Firstly, we utilize Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) as a specific paradigm for discretization, combining geometric representations with Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) and Finite Element discretizations.
Secondly, we primarily concentrate on mixed formulations exhibiting a saddle-point structure and generated from Hilbert complexes with second-order derivative operators. We go beyond the well-known case of the classical de Rham
complex, considering complexes such as the Hessian or elasticity complex. The BGG (Bernstein–Gelfand–Gelfand) method is employed to define and examine these second-order complexes. The main results include proofs of discrete well-posedness and a priori error estimates for two different discretization approaches. One approach demonstrates, through the introduction of a Lagrange multiplier, how the so-called isogeometric discrete differential forms can be reused.
A second method addresses the question of how standard NURBS basis functions, through a modification of the mixed formulation, can also lead to convergent procedures. Numerical tests and examples, conducted using MATLAB and the open-source software GeoPDEs, illustrate the theoretical findings. Our primary application extends to linear elasticity theory, extensively
discussing mixed methods with and without strong symmetry of the stress tensor.
The work demonstrates the potential of IGA in numerical computations, particularly in the challenging scenario of second-order Hilbert complexes. It also provides insights into how IGA and FEEC can be meaningfully combined, even for non-de Rham complexes.
A significant step to engineering design is to take into account uncertainties and to
develop optimal designs that are robust with respect to perturbations. Furthermore, it
is often of interest to optimize for different conflicting objective functions describing the
quality of a design, leading to a multi-objective optimization problem. In this context,
generating methods for solving multi-objective optimization problems seek to find a
representative set of solutions fulfilling the concept of Pareto optimality. When multiple
uncertain objective functions are involved, it is essential to define suitable measures for
robustness that account for a combined effect of uncertainties in objective space. Many
tasks in engineering design include the solution of an underlying partial differential
equation that can be computationally expensive. Thus, it is of interest to use efficient
strategies for finding optimal designs. This research aims to present suitable measures
for robustness in a multi-objective context, as well as optimization strategies for multi-
objective robust design.
This work introduces new ideas for robustness measures in the context of multi-
objective robust design. Losses and expected losses based on distances in objective space
are used to describe robustness. A direct formulation and a two-phase formulation based
on expected losses are proposed for finding a set of robust optimal solutions.
Furthermore, suitable optimization strategies for solving the resulting multi-objective
robust design problem are formulated and analyzed. The multi-objective optimization
problem is solved with a constraint-based approach that is based on solving several
constrained single-objective optimization problems with a hybrid optimization strategy.
The hybrid method combines a global search method on a surrogate model with adjoint-
based optimization methods. In the context of optimization with an underlying partial
differential equation, a one-shot approach is extended to handle additional constraints.
The developed concepts for multi-objective robust design and the proposed optimiza-
tion strategies are applied to an aerodynamic shape optimization problem. The drag
coefficient and the lift coefficient are optimized under the consideration of uncertain-
ties in the operational conditions and geometrical uncertainties. The uncertainties are
propagated with the help of a non-intrusive polynomial chaos approach. For increasing
the efficiency when considering a higher-dimensional random space, it is made use of a
Karhunen-Loève expansion and a dimension-adaptive sparse grid quadrature.
Gliomas are primary brain tumors with a high invasive potential and infiltrative spread. Among them, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) exhibits microvascular hyperplasia and pronounced necrosis triggered by hypoxia. Histological samples showing garland-like hypercellular structures (so-called pseudopalisades) centered around one or several sites of vaso-occlusion are typical for GBM and hint on poor prognosis of patient survival.
This thesis focuses on studying the establishment and maintenance of these histological patterns specific to GBM with the aim of modeling the microlocal tumor environment under the influence of acidity, tissue anisotropy and hypoxia-induced angiogenesis. This aim is reached with two classes of models: multiscale and multiphase. Each of them features a reaction-diffusion equation (RDE) for the acidity acting as a chemorepellent and inhibitor of growth, coupled in a nonlinear way to a reaction-diffusion-taxis equation (RDTE) for glioma dynamics. The numerical simulations of the resulting systems are able to reproduce pseudopalisade-like patterns. The effect of tumor vascularization on these patterns is studied through a flux-limited model belonging to the multiscale class. Thereby, PDEs of reaction-diffusion-taxis type are deduced for glioma and endothelial cell (EC) densities with flux-limited pH-taxis for the tumor and chemotaxis towards vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for ECs. These, in turn, are coupled to RDEs for acidity and VEGF produced by tumor. The numerical simulations of the obtained system show pattern disruption and transient behavior due to hypoxia-induced angiogenesis. Moreover, comparing two upscaling techniques through numerical simulations, we observe that the macroscopic PDEs obtained via parabolic scaling (directed tissue) are able to reproduce glioma patterns, while no such patterns are observed for the PDEs arising by a hyperbolic limit (directed tissue). This suggests that brain tissue might be undirected - at least as far as glioma migration is concerned. We also investigate two different ways of including cell level descriptions of response to hypoxia and the way they are related.
In this thesis, we present the basic concepts of isogeometric analysis (IGA) and we consider Poisson's equation as model problem. Since in IGA the physical domain is parametrized via a geometry function that goes from a parameter domain, e.g. the unit square or unit cube, to the physical one, we present a class of parametrizations that can be viewed as a generalization of polar coordinates, known as the scaled boundary parametrizations (SB-parametrizations). These are easy to construct and are particularly attractive when only the boundary of a domain is available. We then present an IGA approach based on these parametrizations, that we call scaled boundary isogeometric analysis (SB-IGA). The SB-IGA derives the weak form of partial differential equations in a different way from the standard IGA. For the discretization projection
on a finite-dimensional space, we choose in both cases Galerkin's method. Thanks to this technique, we state an equivalence theorem for linear elliptic boundary value problems between the standard IGA, when it makes use of an SB-parametrization,
and the SB-IGA. We solve Poisson's equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions on different geometries and with different SB-parametrizations.
Synapses are connections between different nerve cells that form an essential link in neural signal transmission. It is generally distinguished between electrical and chemical synapses, where chemical synapses are more common in the human brain and are also the type we deal with in this work.
In chemical synapses, small container-like objects called vesicles fill with neurotransmitter and expel them from the cell during synaptic transmission. This process is vital for communication between neurons. However, to the best of our knowledge no mathematical models that take different filling states of the vesicles into account have been developed before this thesis was written.
In this thesis we propose a novel mathematical model for modeling synaptic transmission at chemical synapses which includes the description of vesicles of different filling states. The model consists of a transport equation (for the vesicle growth process) plus three ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and focuses on the presynapse and synaptic cleft.
The well-posedness is proved in detail for this partial differential equation (PDE) system. We also propose a few different variations and related models. In particular, an ODE system is derived and a delay differential equation (DDE) system is formulated. We then use nonlinear optimization methods for data fitting to test some of the models on data made available to us by the Animal Physiology group at TU Kaiserslautern.
This research explores the development of web based reference software for
characterisation of surface roughness for two-dimensional surface data. The reference software used for verification of surface characteristics makes the evaluation methods easier for clients. The algorithms used in this software
are based on International ISO standards. Most software used in industrial measuring
instruments may give variations in the parameters calculated due to numerical changes in
calculation. Such variations can be verified using the proposed reference software.
The evaluation of surface roughness is carried out in four major steps: data capture, data
align, data filtering and parameter calculation. This work walks through each of these steps
explaining how surface profiles are evaluated by pre-processing steps called fitting and
filtering. The analysis process is then followed by parameter evaluation according to DIN EN
ISO 4287 and DIN EN ISO 13565-2 standards to extract important information from the
profile to characterise surface roughness.
Optimal control of partial differential equations is an important task in applied mathematics where it is used in order to optimize, for example, industrial or medical processes. In this thesis we investigate an optimal control problem with tracking type cost functional for the Cattaneo equation with distributed control, that is, \(\tau y_{tt} + y_t - \Delta y = u\). Our focus is on the theoretical and numerical analysis of the limit process \(\tau \to 0\) where we prove the convergence of solutions of the Cattaneo equation to solutions of the heat equation.
We start by deriving both the Cattaneo and the classical heat equation as well as introducing our notation and some functional analytic background. Afterwards, we prove the well-posedness of the Cattaneo equation for homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, that is, we show the existence and uniqueness of a weak solution together with its continuous dependence on the data. We need this in the following, where we investigate the optimal control problem for the Cattaneo equation: We show the existence and uniqueness of a global minimizer for an optimal control problem with tracking type cost functional and the Cattaneo equation as a constraint. Subsequently, we do an asymptotic analysis for \(\tau \to 0\) for both the forward equation and the aforementioned optimal control problem and show that the solutions of these problems for the Cattaneo equation converge strongly to the ones for the heat equation. Finally, we investigate these problems numerically, where we examine the different behaviour of the models and also consider the limit \(\tau \to 0\), suggesting a linear convergence rate.
In this thesis we develop a shape optimization framework for isogeometric analysis in the optimize first–discretize then setting. For the discretization we use
isogeometric analysis (iga) to solve the state equation, and search optimal designs in a space of admissible b-spline or nurbs combinations. Thus a quite
general class of functions for representing optimal shapes is available. For the
gradient-descent method, the shape derivatives indicate both stopping criteria and search directions and are determined isogeometrically. The numerical treatment requires solvers for partial differential equations and optimization methods, which introduces numerical errors. The tight connection between iga and geometry representation offers new ways of refining the geometry and analysis discretization by the same means. Therefore, our main concern is to develop the optimize first framework for isogeometric shape optimization as ground work for both implementation and an error analysis. Numerical examples show that this ansatz is practical and case studies indicate that it allows local refinement.