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: For this, two numerical strategies are presented: A Lagrange multiplier formulation and a penalty method. The curvilinear shell model including the geometrical constraints is taken from Duong et al. (2017) and it is extended to model the coupled phase field problems on thin shells of Zimmermann et al. (2019) and Paul et al. (2020) on multi-patches. Their accuracy and convergence are illustrated by several numerical examples considering deforming shells, phase separations on evolving surfaces, and dynamic brittle fracture of thin shells.