Investigation and application of the domain decomposition method for simulating fuel elements

Computational algorithms based on the two-level additive Schwarz method (a version of the domain decomposition method with overlapping) and the Neumann–Dirichlet method (a version of the domain decomposition method without overlapping) for solving the problem of contact interaction of a system of bodies are proposed. Results of applying these algorithms for the numerical simulation of a stress-strain state of a part of a fuel element that includes 2–100 fuel pellets are presented. An axially symmetric thermoelastic approximation is used. The dependence of the number of iterations needed to ensure the desired accuracy on the number of bodies in the system, on the grid step, and on the boundary conditions on contact surfaces is investigated.