An inverse method for determining elastic material properties and a material interface

Abstract A numerical procedure which integrates optimization, finite element analysis and automatic finite element mesh generation is developed for solving a two‐dimensional inverse/parameter estimation problem in solid mechanics. The problem consists of determining the location and size of a circular inclusion in a finite matrix and the elastic material properties of the inclusion and the matrix. Traction and displacement boundary conditions sufficient for solving a direct problem are applied to the boundary of the domain. In addition, displacements are measured at discrete points on the part of the boundary where the tractions are prescribed. The inverse problem is solved using a modified Levenberg‐Marquardt method to match the measured displacements to a finite element model solution which depends on the unknown parameters. Numerical experiments are presented to show how different factors in the problem and the solution procedure influence the accuracy of the estimated parameters.