Isogeometric continuity constraints for multi-patch shells governed by fourth-order deformation and phase field models.

This work presents numerical techniques to enforce continuity constraints on multi-patch surfaces for three distinct problem classes. The first involves structural analysis of thin shells that are described by general Kirchhoff-Love kinematics. Their governing equation is a vector-valued, fourth-order, nonlinear, partial differential equation (PDE) that requires at least $C^1$-continuity within a displacement-based finite element formulation. The second class are surface phase separations modeled by a phase field. Their governing equation is the Cahn-Hilliard equation - a scalar, fourth-order, nonlinear PDE - that can be coupled to the thin shell PDE. The third class are brittle fracture processes modeled by a phase field approach. In this work, these are described by a scalar, fourth-order, nonlinear PDE that is similar to the Cahn-Hilliard equation and is also coupled to the thin shell PDE. Using a direct finite element discretization, the two phase field equations also require at least a $C^1$-continuous formulation. Isogeometric surface discretizations - often composed of multiple patches - thus require constraints that enforce the $C^1$-continuity of displacement and phase field. For this, two numerical strategies are presented: A Lagrange multiplier formulation and a penalty regularization. They are both implemented within the curvilinear shell and phase field formulations of Duong et al. (2017), Zimmermann et al. (2019) and Paul et al. (2019) and illustrated by several numerical examples. These consider deforming shells, phase separations on evolving surfaces, and dynamic brittle fracture.