Efficient thermo-viscoplastic analysis using a multi-level hp-Finite Cell Method with non-negative moment fitting

Abstract

An extension of the multi-level hp Finite Cell Method is proposed for the simulation of thermoviscoplastic problems with temperature-dependent material behavior. The approach combines hierarchical adaptive refinement with a non-negative moment fitting (NNMF) quadrature scheme for efficient and robust integration of non-linear, history-dependent constitutive models on cut cells. The NNMF formulation yields sparse, positive quadrature rules that significantly reduce the number of integration points while maintaining stability and accuracy. An error-indicator-driven hp-refinement strategy enables localized resolution of strain and thermal gradients during the non-linear solution process. The framework is implemented within a partitioned thermo-mechanical scheme and evaluated on benchmark and application-oriented examples. The results demonstrate improved accuracy and substantial computational savings compared to standard integration approaches.