Patent ID: 8374833

Claim:
A method executed in a computer system for using hybrid elements to allow coupling effect between solid elements under finite element method (FEM) and particles under smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), the method comprising: defining a grid model representing a structure, the grid model including a plurality of FEM solid elements, at least one SPH particle, and at least one layer of hybrid elements in between said FEM solid elements and said at least one SPH particle, each of the hybrid elements including a solid layer and a particle layer; performing a time-marching simulation of the structure under a loading condition using the grid model, the simulation including a coupling effect of an exchange of a set of nodal quantities calculated in the solid layer and corresponding internal forces calculated in the particle layer; and obtaining the time-marching simulation's results at each solution cycle, wherein the obtained results are saved into a file in a storage device and are graphically displayed to a monitor according to user's instructions.