Nonlinear finite element analysis of elastic frames

A very simple and effective formulation and numerical procedure to remove the restriction of small rotations between two successive increments for the geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis of in-plane frames is presented. A co-rotational formulation combined with small deflection beam theory with the inclusion of the effect of axial force is adopted. A body attached coordinate is used to distinguish between rigid body and deformational rotations. The deformational nodal rotational angles are assumed to be small, and the membrane strain along the deformed beam axis obtained from the elongation of the arc length of the deformed beam element is assumed to be constant. The element internal nodal forces are calculated using the total deformational nodal rotations in the body attached coordinate. The element stiffness matrix is obtained by superimposing the bending and the geometric stiffness matrices of the elementary beam element and the stiffness matrix of the linear bar element. An incremental iterative method based on the Newton-Raphson method combined with a constant arc length control method is employed for the solution of the nonlinear equilibrium equations. In order to improve convergence properties of the equilibrium iteration, a two-cycle iteration scheme is introduced. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.     

Geometrically non-linear formulation for two dimensional curved beam elements

This paper presents a geometrically non-linear formulation using a total lagrangian approach for the two dimensional curved beam elements. The beam element is derived using linear, paralinear and cubic-linear plane stress elements. The basic element geometry is constructed using the coordinates of the nodes on the element center line (η = 0) and the nodal point normals. The element displacement field is described using two translations of the node on the center line and a rotation about the axes normal to the plane containing the center line of the element. The existing beam element formulations are restricted to small nodal rotations between two successive load increments. The element formulation presented here removes such a restriction. This is accomplished by retaining non-linear nodal rotation terms in the definition of the displacement field and the consistent derivation of the element properties. The formulation presented here is very general and yet can be made specific by selecting appropriate non-linear functions representing the effects of nodal rotations. The element properties are derived and presented in detail. Numerical examples are also presented to demonstrate the behavior and the accuracy of the two dimensional beam elements for geometrically non-linear applications. In all cases comparisons made with theory and/or other published data show that the beam elements product accurate results and permit large load increments with good convergence characteristics.     

A geometrically exact beam element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation

In this study, Reissner’s classical nonlinear rod formulation, as implemented by Simo and Vu-Quoc by means of the large rotation vector approach, is implemented into the framework of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The implementation is accomplished in the planar case accounting for coupled axial, bending, and shear deformation. By employing the virtual work of elastic forces similarly to Simo and Vu-Quoc in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, the numerical results of the formulation are identical to those of the large rotation vector formulation. It is noteworthy, however, that the material definition in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation can differ from the material definition used in Reissner’s beam formulation. Based on an analytical eigenvalue analysis, it turns out that the high frequencies of cross section deformation modes in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation are only slightly higher than frequencies of common shear modes, which are present in the classical large rotation vector formulation of Simo and Vu-Quoc, as well. Thus, previous claims that the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is inefficient or would lead to ill-conditioned finite element matrices, as compared to classical approaches, could be refuted. In the introduced beam element, locking is prevented by means of reduced integration of certain parts of the elastic forces. Several classical large deformation static and dynamic examples as well as an eigenvalue analysis document the equivalence of classical nonlinear rod theories and the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for the case of appropriate material definitions. The results also agree highly with those computed in commercial finite element codes.     

A co-rotational formulation for nonlinear dynamic analysis of curved euler beam

A co-rotational finite element formulation for the dynamic analysis of a planar curved Euler beam is presented. The Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis and the initial curvature are properly considered for the kinematics of a curved beam. Both the deformational nodal forces and the inertial nodal forces of the beam element are systematically derived by consistent linearization of the fully geometrically nonlinear beam theory in element coordinates which are constructed at the current configuration of the corresponding beam element. An incremental-iterative method based on the Newmark direct integration method and the Newton-Raphson method is employed here for the solution of the nonlinear dynamic equilibrium equations. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed element and to investigate the effect of the initial curvature on the dynamic response of the curved beam structures.     

Analysis of Large Flexible Body Deformation in Multibody Systems Using Absolute Coordinates

To consider large deformation problems in multibody system simulations afinite element approach, called absolute nodal coordinate.formulation,has been proposed. In this formulation absolute nodal coordinates andtheir material derivatives are applied to represent both deformation andrigid body motion. The choice of nodal variables allows a fullynonlinear representation of rigid body motion and can provide the exactrigid body inertia in the case of large rotations. The methodology isespecially suited for but not limited to modeling of beams, cables andshells in multibody dynamics.This paper summarizes the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for a 3D Euler–Bernoulli beam model, in particular the definition of nodal variables, corresponding generalized elastic and inertia forces and equations of motion. The element stiffness matrix is a nonlinear function of the nodal variables even in the case of linearized strain/displacement relations. Nonlinear strain/displacement relations can be calculated from the global displacements using quadrature formulae.Computational examples are given which demonstrate the capabilities of the applied methodology. Consequences of the choice of shape.functions on the representation of internal forces are discussed. Linearized strain/displacement modeling is compared to the nonlinear approach and significant advantages of the latter, when using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, are outlined.     

A 3D Finite Element Method for Flexible Multibody Systems

An efficient finite element (FE) formulation for the simulation of multibody systems is derived from Hamilton's principle. According to the classical assumptions of multibody systems, a large rotation formulation has been chosen, where large rotations and large displacements, but only small deformations of the single bodies are taken into account. The strain tensor is linearized with respect to a co-rotated frame. The present approach uses absolute coordinates for the degrees of freedom and forms an alternative to the floating frame of reference formulation that is based on relative coordinates and describes deformation with respect to a co-rotated frame. Due to the modified strain tensor, the present formulation distinguishes significantly from standard nodal based nonlinear FE methods. Constraints are defined in integral form for every pair of surfaces of two bodies. This leads to a small number of constraint equations and avoids artificial stress singularities. The resulting mass and stiffness matrices are constant apart from a transformation based on a single rotation matrix for each body. The particular structure of this transformation allows to prevent from the usually expensive factorization of the system Jacobian within implicit time--integration methods. The present method has been implemented and tested with the FE-package NGSolve and specific 3D examples are verified with a standard beam formulation.     

Absolute nodal coordinate plane beam formulation for multibody systems dynamics

A new plane beam dynamic formulation for constrained multibody system dynamics is developed. Flexible multibody system dynamics includes rigid body dynamics and superimposed vibratory motions. The complexity of mechanical system dynamics originates from rotational kinematics, but the natural coordinate formulation does not use rotational coordinates, so that simple dynamic formulation is possible. These methods use only translational coordinates and simple algebraic constraints. A new formulation for plane flexible multibody systems are developed utilizing the curvature of a beam and point masses. Using absolute nodal coordinates, a constant mass matrix is obtained and the elastic force becomes a nonlinear function of the nodal coordinates. In this formulation, no infinitesimal or finite rotation assumptions are used and no assumption on the magnitude of the element rotations is made. The distributed body mass and applied forces are lumped to the point masses. Closed loop mechanical systems consisting of elastic beams can be modeled without constraints since the loop closure constraints can be substituted as beam longitudinal elasticity. A curved beam is modeled automatically. Several numerical examples are presented to show the effectiveness of this method.     

绝对节点坐标法下斜率不连续问题处理方法讨论

Shabana提出的绝对节点坐标法,引入节点斜率坐标作为节点自由度描述转动.对于由梁板壳及块体组成的组合结构,在结构节点处相交单元的节点斜率自由度不连续,这给组合结构的建模和分析带来特殊的困难.本文讨论了文献中研究斜率不连续问题时的处理办法.在简要介绍绝对节点坐标法后,详细地讨论了经典折梁算例和截面呈阶梯变化的直梁算例中斜率不连续问题.对这两个算例,本文采用约束函数法和现有文献中的转换坐标方法,计算了在结构节点处相交杆件的轴向应变,对比这些数值结果,本文指出现有文献中的转换坐标办法,忽视了斜率自由度和转角自由度的差别,从而不能正确给出斜率不连续处相交杆件的轴向应变,需要进一步研究.     

p-Version axisymmetric shell element for geometrically nonlinear analysis

This paper presents a p-version geometrically nonlinear (GNL) formulation based on total Lagrangian approach for a three-node axisymmetric curved shell element. The approximation functions and the nodal variables for the element are derived directly from the Lagrange family of interpolation functions of order p_ξ and p_η. This is accomplished by first establishing one-dimensional hierarchical approximation functions and the corresponding nodal variable operators in the ξ and η directions for the three- and one-node equivalent configurations that correspond to p_ξ + 1 and p_η+ 1 equally spaced nodes in the ξ and η directions and then taking their products. The resulting element approximation functions and the nodal variables are hierarchical and the element approximation ensures C⁰ continuity. The element geometry is described by the coordinates of the nodes located on the middle surface of the element and the nodal vectors describing top and bottom surfaces of the element.

The element properties are established using the principle of virtual work and the hierarchical element approximation. In formulating the properties of the element complete axisymmetric state of stresses and strains are considered, hence the element is equally effective for very thin as well as extremely thick shells. The formulation presented here removes virtually all of the drawbacks present in the existing GNL axisymmetric shell finite element formulations and has many additional benefits. First, the currently available GNL axisymmetric shell finite element formulations are based on fixed interpolation order and thus are not hierarchical and have no mechanism for p-level change. Secondly, the element displacement approximations in the existing formulations are either based on linearized (with respect to nodal rotation) displacement fields in which case a true Lagrangian formulation is not possible and the load step size is severely limited or are based on nonlinear nodal rotation functions approach in which case though the kinematics of deformation is exact but additional complications arise due to the noncummutative nature of nonlinear nodal rotation functions. Such limitations and difficulties do not exist in the present formulation. The hierarchical displacement approximation used here does not involve traditional nodal rotations that have been used in the existing shell element formulations, thus the difficulties associated with their use are not present in this formulation.

Incremental equations of equilibrium are derived and solved using the standard Newton method. The total load is divided into increments, and for each increment of load, equilibrium iterations are performed until each component of the residuals is within a preset tolerance. Numerical examples are presented to show the accuracy, efficiency and advantages of the preset formulation. The results obtained from the present formulation are compared with those available in the literature.     

A generalized geometrically nonlinear formulation with large rotations for finite elements with rotational degrees of freedoms

A generalized geometrically nonlinear formulation using total Lagrangian approach is presented for the finite elements with translational as well as rotational degrees of freedoms. An important aspect of the formulation presented here is that the restriction on the magnitude of the nodal rotations is eliminated by retaining true nonlinear nodal rotation terms in the definition of the element displacement field and the consistent derivation of the element properties based on this displacement field. The general derivation and the formulation steps are applicable to any element with translational and rotational nodal degrees of freedoms. The specific forms of the formulation for axisymmetric shells, two-dimensional isoparametric beams, curved shells, two-dimensional transition elements and solid-shell transition elements can be easily derived by considering the explicit forms of the nonlinear nodal rotations for the element at hand. The specific forms of this formulation have already been well tested and applied to various two- and three-dimensional elements, the results for some of which are presented here. Currently it is being applied to the three-dimensional isoparametric beam elements.     

Experimental validation of rigid-flexible coupling dynamic formulation for hub–beam system

The aim of this paper is to compare the accuracy of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and the floating frame of reference formulation for the rigid-flexible coupling dynamics of a three-dimensional Euler–Bernoulli beam by numerical and experimental validation. In the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, based on geometrically exact beam theory and considering the torsion effect, the material curvature of the beam is derived, and then variational equations of motion of a three-dimensional beam are obtained, which consist of three position coordinates, two slope coordinates, and one rotational coordinate. In the floating frame of reference formulation, the displacement of an arbitrary point on the beam is described by the rigid-body motion and a small superimposed deformation displacement. Based on linear elastic theory, the quadratic terms of the axial strain are neglected, and the curvatures are simplified to the first order. Considering both the linear damping and the quadratic air resistance damping, the equations of motion of the multibody system composed of air-bearing test bed and a cantilevered three-dimensional beam are derived based on the principle of virtual work. In order to verify the results of the computer simulation, two experiments are carried out: an experiment of hub–beam system with large deformation and a dynamic stiffening experiment. The comparison of the simulation and experiment results shows that in case of large deformation, the frequency result obtained by the floating frame of reference formulation is lower than that obtained by the experiment. On the contrary, the result obtained by the absolute nodal coordinate formulation agrees well with that obtained by the experiment. It is also shown that the floating frame of reference formulation based on linear elastic theory cannot reveal the dynamic stiffening effect. Finally, the applicability of the floating frame of reference formulation is clarified.     

Poisson modes and general nonlinear constitutive models in the large displacement analysis of beams

Most existing formulations for structural elements such as beams, plates and shells do not allow for the use of general nonlinear constitutive models in a straightforward manner. Furthermore, such structural element models, due to the nature of the generalized coordinates used, do not capture some Poisson modes such as the ones that couple the deformation of the cross section of the structural element and stretch and bending. In this paper, beam models that employ general nonlinear constitutive equations are presented using finite elements based on the nonlinear absolute nodal coordinate formulation. This formulation relaxes the assumptions of the Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories, and allows for the use of general nonlinear constitutive models. The finite elements based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation also allow for the rotation as well as the deformation of the cross section, thereby capturing Poisson modes which can not be captured using other beam models. In this investigation, three different nonlinear constitutive models based on the hyper-elasticity theory are considered. These three models are based on the Neo–Hookean constitutive law for compressible materials, the Neo–Hookean constitutive law for incompressible materials, and the Mooney–Rivlin constitutive law in which the material is assumed to be incompressible. These models, which allow capturing Poisson modes, are suitable for many materials and applications, including rubber-like materials and biological tissues which are governed by nonlinear elastic behavior. Numerical examples that demonstrate the implementation of these nonlinear constitutive models in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation are presented. The results obtained using the nonlinear and linear constitutive models are compared in this study. These results show that the use of nonlinear constitutive models can significantly enhance the performance and improve the computational efficiency of the finite element models based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The results also show that when linear constitutive models are used in the large deformation analysis, singular configurations are encountered and basic formulas such as Nanson’s formula are no longer valid. These singular deformation configurations are not encountered when the nonlinear constitutive models are used.     

Coupled thermo-structural analysis of a bimetallic strip using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation

A bimetallic strip consists of two different metal pieces that are bonded together. Due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion, exposing the strip to temperature induces thermal stresses that cause the structure to bend. Most often, incremental finite-element methods that introduce element nodal coordinates have been successfully applied to analyze the thermally induced vibrations in such systems. The exposure of these bimetallic strips to high temperatures results in large deflections and deformations, where the effects of the rigid-body motion and large rotations must be taken into account. For classic, non-isoparametric elements such as beams and plates the incremental methods do not result in zero strains under arbitrary, rigid-body motion. Therefore, in this paper a new model of a bimetallic strip is proposed based on a coupled thermo-structural analysis using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The applied, non-incremental, absolute nodal coordinate formulation uses a set of global displacements and slopes so that the beam and the plate elements can be treated as isoparametric elements. In order to simulate the bimetallic strip’s dynamic response, the formulation of the shear-deformable beam element had to be extended with thermally induced stresses. This made it possible to model the coupled thermo-structural problem and to represent the connectivity constraints at the interface between the two strips of metal. The proposed formulation was verified by comparing the responses using a general-purpose finite-element software.     

p-Version hierarchical two dimensional curved beam element for elastostatics

This paper presents a completely hierarchical two dimensional curved beam element formulation where the element displacement field can be of arbitrary polynomial orders p_ξ and p_η in the axial and the transverse directions of the element. The approximation functions and the corresponding nodal variables for the beam element are derived by first constructing the hierarchical one dimensional approximation functions of orders p_ξ and p_η, and the corresponding hierarchical nodal variable operators for each of the two directions ξ and η and then taking their product. This procedure yields approximation functions and nodal variables for the curved beam element that correspond to polynomial orders p_ξ and p_η in ξ and η directions. The element approximation is hierarchical, i.e. the approximation functions and the nodal variables are both hierarchical. Thus, the element matrix and the load vectors corresponding to the polynomial orders p_ξ and p_η are a subset of those corresponding to the polynomial orders (p_ξ + 1) and (p_η + 1). The element formulation ensures C⁰ continuity.

The element properties are derived using the principle of virtual work and the hierarchical element displacement approximation. The element geometry is constructed using the coordinates of the nodes located on the elastic axis of the element and the node point vectors indicating nodal depths and the element width at the nodes. The orders of approximation along the length of the element as well as in the transverse direction can be chosen independently to obtain optimum (maximum) rate of convergence.

Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy, simplicity of modeling, effectiveness, faster rate of convergence and overall superiority of the present formulation. Results obtained from the present formulation are also compared with h-approximation models and available analytical solutions.     

Effect of the centrifugal forces on the finite element eigenvalue solution of a rotating blade: a comparative study

In this study, the effect of the centrifugal forces on the eigenvalue solution obtained using two different nonlinear finite element formulations is examined. Both formulations can correctly describe arbitrary rigid body displacements and can be used in the large deformation analysis. The first formulation is based on the geometrically exact beam theory, which assumes that the cross section does not deform in its own plane and remains plane after deformation. The second formulation, the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF), relaxes this assumption and introduces modes that couple the deformation of the cross section and the axial and bending deformations. In the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, four different models are developed; a beam model based on a general continuum mechanics approach, a beam model based on an elastic line approach, a beam model based on an elastic line approach combined with the Hellinger–Reissner principle, and a plate model based on a general continuum mechanics approach. The use of the general continuum mechanics approach leads to a model that includes the ANCF coupled deformation modes. Because of these modes, the continuum mechanics model differs from the models based on the elastic line approach. In both the geometrically exact beam and the absolute nodal coordinate formulations, the centrifugal forces are formulated in terms of the element nodal coordinates. The effect of the centrifugal forces on the flap and lag modes of the rotating beam is examined, and the results obtained using the two formulations are compared for different values of the beam angular velocity. The numerical comparative study presented in this investigation shows that when the effect of some ANCF coupled deformation modes is neglected, the eigenvalue solutions obtained using the geometrically exact beam and the absolute nodal coordinate formulations are in a good agreement. The results also show that as the effect of the centrifugal forces, which tend to increase the beam stiffness, increases, the effect of the ANCF coupled deformation modes on the computed eigenvalues becomes less significant. It is shown in this paper that when the effect of the Poisson ration is neglected, the eigenvalue solution obtained using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation based on a general continuum mechanics approach is in a good agreement with the solution obtained using the geometrically exact beam model.     

Geometrically non-linear formulation for the three dimensional solid-shell transition finite elements

This paper presents a geometrically non-linear formulation using total lagrangian approach for the solid-shell transition finite elements. Such transition finite elements are necessary in geometrically non-linear analysis of structures modelled with three dimensional solid elements and the curved shell elements. These elements are an essential connecting link between the solid elements and the shell elements. The element formulation presented here is derived using the properties of the three dimensional solid elements and the curved shell elements. No restrictions are imposed on the magnitude of the nodal rotations. Thus the element formulation is capable of handling large rotations between two successive load increments. The element properties are derived and presented in detail. Numerical examples are also presented to demonstrate their behavior, accuracy and applications in three dimensional stress analysis.

It is shown that the selection of different stress and strain components at the integration points do not effect the overall linear response of the element. However, in geometrically non-linear applications it may be necessary to select appropriate stress and the strain components at the integration points for stable and converging element behavior. Numerical examples illustrate various characteristics of the element.