2021-04-162019-11-150021999110902716WOS;000486433900015SCOPUS;2-s2.0-85083818253http://hdl.handle.net/10784/29220The complex Taylor series expansion method for computing accurate first order derivatives is extended in this work to quaternion, octonion and any order Cayley-Dickson algebra. The advantage of this new approach is that highly accurate multiple first order derivatives can be obtained in a single analysis. Quaternion and octonion-based finite element analysis methods were developed in order to compute up to three (quaternion) and up to seven (octonion) first order derivatives of shape, material properties, and/or loading conditions in a single analysis. The traditional finite element formulation was modified such that each degree-of-freedom was augmented with three or seven additional imaginary nodes. The quaternion and octonion-based methods were integrated within the Abaqus commercial finite element code through a user element subroutine. Numerical examples are presented for thermal conductivity and linear elasticity; however, the methodology is general. The results indicate that the quaternion and octonion-based methods provide derivatives of the same high accuracy as the complex finite element method but are significantly more efficient. A Fortran code to solve a simple seven variable quaternion example is given in the Appendix. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.enghttps://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/0021-9991info:eu-repo/semantics/articleQuaternionsCayley-Dickson numbersNumerical differentiationFirst order derivativesComplex step2021-04-16Aristizabal, MauricioRamirez-Tamayo, DanielGarcia, ManuelAguirre-Mesa, AndresMontoya, ArturoMillwater, Harry10.1016/j.jcp.2019.07.030