An inverse finite-element algorithm for parameter identification of thermoelastic damage models

In this contribution an algorithm for parameter identification of thermoela stic damage models is proposed, in which non-uniform distributions of the s tate variables such as stresses, strains, damage variables and temperature are taken into account. To this end a least-squares functional consisting o f experimental data and simulated data is minimized, whereby the latter are obtained with the finite-element method. In order to improve the efficienc y of the minimization process, a gradient-based optimization algorithm is a pplied, and therefore the corresponding sensitivity analysis for the couple d variational problem is described in a systematic manner. For illustrative purpose, the performance of the algorithm is demonstrated for a non-homoge neous shear problem with thermal loading. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.