A New Nodal Stress Recovery Technique in Finite Element Method Using Colliding Bodies Optimization Algorithm

In Finite Element Method (FEM), the stress components are calculated within the elements firstly, and then these components are recovered to the nodes. For the recovery process, there are several well-known methods in which the increase of their accuracy imposes additional costs into the problem. In this paper, a new nodal stress recovery technique is proposed in which Colliding Bodies Optimization (CBO) Algorithm fits an appropriative function for nodal stress fields. The CBO employs this function to compute the stress components in the nodal coordinates. Therefore, a particular model to stress fields and its components will be available. It can be considered as a connection between analytical approaches and numerical methods, providing benefits of both categories. Finally, the accuracy, efficiency, and applicability of the new technique are investigated employing three diverse examples.