State-space time integration with energy control and fourth-order accuracy for linear dynamic systems

A fourth-order accurate time integration algorithm with exact energy conservation for linear structural dynamics is presented. It is derived by integrating the phase-space representation and evaluating the resulting displacement and velocity integrals via integration by parts, substituting the time derivatives from the original differential equations. The resulting algorithm has an exact energy equation, in which the change of energy is equal to the work of the external forces minus a quadratic form of the damping matrix. This implies unconditional stability of the algorithm, and the relative phase error is of fourth-order. An optional high-frequency algorithmic damping is constructed by optimal combination of three different damping matrices, each proportional to either the mass or the stiffness matrix. This leads to a modified form of the undamped algorithm with scalar weights on some of the matrices introducing damping of fourth-order in the frequency. Thus, the low-frequency response is virtually undamped, and the algorithm remains third-order accurate even when algorithmic damping is included. The accuracy of the algorithm is illustrated by an application to pulse propagation in an elastic medium, where the algorithmic damping is used to reduce dispersion due to the spatial discretization, leading to a smooth solution with a clearly defined wave front