Improved hybrid displacement function (IHDF) element scheme for analysis of Mindlin–Reissner plate with edge effect

For a Mindlin–Reissner plate subjected to transverse loadings, the distributions of the rotations and some resultant forces may vary very sharply within a narrow district near certain boundaries. This edge effect is indeed a great challenge for conventional finite element analysis. Recently, an effective hybrid displacement function (HDF) finite element method was successfully developed for solving such difficulty 1 , 2 . Although good performances can be obtained in most cases, the distribution continuity of some resulting resultants is destroyed when coarse meshes are employed. Moreover, an additional local coordinate system must be used for avoiding a singular problem in matrix inversion, which makes the derivations more complicated. Based on a modified complementary energy functional containing Lagrangian multipliers, an improved HDF (IHDF) element scheme is proposed in this work. And two new special IHDF elements, named by IHDF‐P4‐Free and IHDF‐P4‐SS1, are constructed for modeling plate behaviors near free and soft simply supported boundaries, respectively. The present modeling scheme not only greatly improves the precision of the numerical results but also avoids usage of the additional local Coordinate system. The numerical tests demonstrate that the new IHDF element scheme is an effective way for solving the challenging edge effect problem in Mindlin–Reissner plates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hybrid displacement function element method: a simple hybrid‐Trefftz stress element method for analysis of Mindlin–Reissner plate

In order to develop robust finite element models for analysis of thin and moderately thick plates, a simple hybrid displacement function element method is presented. First, the variational functional of complementary energy for Mindlin–Reissner plates is modified to be expressed by a displacement function F, which can be used to derive displacement components satisfying all governing equations. Second, the assumed element resultant force fields, which can satisfy all related governing equations, are derived from the fundamental analytical solutions of F. Third, the displacements and shear strains along each element boundary are determined by the locking‐free formulae based on the Timoshenko's beam theory. Finally, by applying the principle of minimum complementary energy, the element stiffness matrix related to the conventional nodal displacement DOFs is obtained. Because the trial functions of the domain stress approximations a priori satisfy governing equations, this method is consistent with the hybrid‐Trefftz stress element method. As an example, a 4‐node, 12‐DOF quadrilateral plate bending element, HDF‐P4‐11 β, is formulated. Numerical benchmark examples have proved that the new model possesses excellent precision. It is also a shape‐free element that performs very well even when a severely distorted mesh containing concave quadrilateral and degenerated triangular elements is employed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An enhanced cell‐based smoothed finite element method for the analysis of Reissner–Mindlin plate bending problems involving distorted mesh

In this work, an enhanced cell‐based smoothed finite element method (FEM) is presented for the Reissner–Mindlin plate bending analysis. The smoothed curvature computed by a boundary integral along the boundaries of smoothing cells in original smoothed FEM is reformulated, and the relationship between the original approach and the present method in curvature smoothing is established. To improve the accuracy of shear strain in a distorted mesh, we span the shear strain space over the adjacent element. This is performed by employing an edge‐based smoothing technique through a simple area‐weighted smoothing procedure on MITC4 assumed shear strain field. A three‐field variational principle is utilized to develop the mixed formulation. The resultant element formulation is further reduced to a displacement‐based formulation via an assumed strain method defined by the edge‐smoothing technique. As the result, a new formulation consisting of smoothed curvature and smoothed shear strain interpolated by the standard transverse displacement/rotation fields and smoothing operators can be shown to improve the solution accuracy in cell‐based smoothed FEM for Reissner–Mindlin plate bending analysis. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed formulation.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A unified 3D‐based technique for plate bending analysis using scaled boundary finite element method

This paper presents a unified technique for solving the plate bending problems by extending the scaled boundary finite element method. The formulation is based on the three‐dimensional governing equation without enforcing the kinematics of plate theory. Only the in‐plane dimensions are discretised into finite elements. Any two‐dimensional displacement‐based elements can be employed. The solution along the thickness is expressed analytically by using a matrix function. The proposed technique is consistent with the three‐dimensional theory and applicable to both thick and thin plates without exhibiting the numerical locking phenomenon. Moreover, the use of higher order spectral elements allows the proposed technique to better represent curved boundaries and to achieve high accuracy and fast convergence. Numerical examples of various plate structures with different thickness‐to‐length ratios demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of the proposed technique. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three dimensional hybrid‐Trefftz stress finite elements for plates and shells

Three‐dimensional hybrid‐Trefftz stress finite elements for plates and shells are proposed. Two independent fields are approximated: stresses within the element and displacement on their boundary. The required stress field derived from the Papkovitch‐Neuber solution of the Navier equation, which a priori satisfies the Trefftz constraint, is generated using homogeneous harmonic polynomials. Restriction on the polynomial degree in the coordinate measured along the thickness direction is imposed to reduce the number of independent terms. Explicit expressions of the corresponding independent polynomials are listed up to the fifth order. Illustrative applications to evaluate displacements and stresses are conducted by hexahedral hybrid‐Trefftz stress element models. The hierarchical p‐ and h‐refinement strategy are exploited in the numerical tests.     

Finite elements for materials with strain gradient effects

A finite element implementation is reported of the Fleck–Hutchinson phenomenological strain gradient theory. This theory fits within the Toupin–Mindlin framework and deals with first‐order strain gradients and the associated work‐conjugate higher‐order stresses. In conventional displacement‐based approaches, the interpolation of displacement requires C¹‐continuity in order to ensure convergence of the finite element procedure for higher‐order theories. Mixed‐type finite elements are developed herein for the Fleck–Hutchinson theory; these elements use standard C⁰‐continuous shape functions and can achieve the same convergence as C¹ elements. These C⁰ elements use displacements and displacement gradients as nodal degrees of freedom. Kinematic constraints between displacement gradients are enforced via the Lagrange multiplier method. The elements developed all pass a patch test. The resulting finite element scheme is used to solve some representative linear elastic boundary value problems and the comparative accuracy of various types of element is evaluated. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alternate hybrid stress finite element models

Alternate hybrid stress finite element models in which the internal equilibrium equations are satisfied on the average only, while the equilibrium equations along the interelement boundaries and the static boundary conditions are adhered to exactly a priori, are developed. The variational principle and the corresponding finite element formulation, which allows the standard direct stiffness method of structural analysis to be used, are discussed. Triangular elements for a moderately thick plate and a doubly-curved shallow thin shell are developed. Kinematic displacement modes, convergence criteria and bounds for the direct flexibility-influence coefficient are examined.     

Smoothing Measured Displacements and Computing Strains Utilising Finite Element Method

Abstract: A method for smoothing measured displacements and computing strains utilising finite element and least‐squares methods is proposed. Nodal displacement values of a finite element model are determined by fitting the interpolation functions of elements to measured displacement values using the method of least‐squares. The displacements in the region where the measurement values are not obtained or unreliable are determined by solving finite element equations. Then, strains are obtained using a displacement‐strain relationship. The validity is demonstrated by applying the proposed method to the displacement distributions of a plate with a hole obtained using finite element method and those around a crack tip obtained using digital image correlation. Results show that the displacements and the strains can be determined accurately by the proposed method. Furthermore, the strains near free boundaries and strain concentration region can be computed. As strains can be evaluated easily and accurately, the proposed method can be used as one of the data processing methods for optical methods.     

ASSUMED STRESS C0 QUADRILATERAL/TRIANGULAR PLATE ELEMENTS BY INTERRELATED EDGE DISPLACEMENTS

This paper presents two simple quadrilateral C⁰ plate bending elements with explicit element stiffness matrix. The element formulation is based on assumed element stress fields and the interrelated transverse displacement and rotation along element boundaries. The interrelated edge displacements not only can result in higher-order displacements interpolations for higher accuracy element and overcome the shear locking in thin plate analysis encountered by C⁰ plate elements, but can also unify the four-noded quadrilateral element and its corresponding three-noded triangular element. The latter cannot be achieved by the assumed displacement formulation. The numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the present assumed stress C⁰ plate elements.     

Fatigue growth prediction of center slant crack in rectangular plate

This paper presents a numerical prediction model of mixed‐mode crack fatigue growth in a plane elastic plate. It involves a formulations of fatigue growth of multiple crack tips under mixed‐mode loading and a displacement discontinuity method with crack‐tip elements (a boundary element method) proposed recently by Yan is extended to analyse the fatigue growth process of multiple crack tips. Due to an intrinsic feature of the boundary element method, a general growth problem of multiple cracks can be solved in a single‐region formulation. In the numerical simulation, for each increment of crack extension, remeshing of existing boundaries is not necessary. Crack extension is conveniently modelled by adding new boundary elements on the incremental crack extension to the previous crack boundaries. At the same time, the element characters of some related elements are adjusted according to the manner in which the boundary element method is implemented. As an example, the present numerical approach is used to analyse the fatigue growth of a centre slant crack in a rectangular plate. The numerical results illustrate the validation of the numerical prediction model and can reveal the effect of the geometry of the cracked plate on the fatigue growth.     

Optimization of stress modes by energy compatibility for 4‐node hybrid quadrilaterals

Optimal hybrid stress quadrilaterals can be obtained by adopting appropriate stresses and displacements, and satisfying the energy compatibility condition is shown to be an ultimate key to obtaining optimal stress modes. By using compatible isoparametric bilinear (Q₄) displacements and 5‐parameter energy compatible stresses of the combined hybrid finite element CH(0‐1), a robust 4‐node plane stress element ECQ₄ is derived. Equivalence to another hybrid stress element LQ₆ with 9‐parameter complete linear stresses based on a modified Hellinger–Reissner principle is established. A convergence analysis is given and numerical experiments show that elements ECQ₄/LQ₆ have high performance, i.e. are accurate at coarse meshes, insensitive to mesh distortions and free from locking. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Free vibration of orthotropic laminated plates according to partial hybrid plate element

Abstract

The free vibration analysis of orthotropic composite laminates is investigated by using the partial hybrid plate element. The Hellinger‐Reissner principle is modified by adding kinetic energy. The through thickness effect is properly predicted since the transverse shear stress fields are assumed in the hybrid stress version. The natural frequencies are therefore accurately predicted. Apparently, the present study is more accurate than the displacement‐based higher‐order plate element.     

Hybrid and enhanced finite element methods for problems of soil consolidation

Hybrid and enhanced finite element methods with bi‐linear interpolations for both the solid displacements and the pore fluid pressures are derived based on mixed variational principles for problems of elastic soil consolidation. Both plane strain and axisymmetric problems are studied. It is found that by choosing appropriate interpolation of enhanced strains in the enhanced method, and by choosing appropriate interpolations of strains, effective stresses and enhanced strains in the hybrid method, the oscillations of nodal pore pressures can be eliminated. Several numerical examples demonstrating the capability and performance of the enhanced and hybrid finite element methods are presented. It is also shown that for some situations, such as problems involving high Poisson's ratio and in other related problems where bending effects are evident, the performance of the enhanced and hybrid methods are superior to that of the conventional displacement‐based method. The results from the hybrid method are better than those from the enhanced method for some situations, such as problems in which soil permeability is variable or discontinuous within elements. Since all the element parameters except the nodal displacements and nodal pore pressures are assumed in the element level and can be eliminated by static condensation, the implementations of the enhanced method and the hybrid method are basically the same as the conventional displacement‐based finite element method. The present enhanced method and hybrid method can be easily extended to non‐linear consolidation problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elastoplastic dynamic analysis with hybrid stress elements

The stress model of the hybrid finite element formulation is applied to the solution of dynamic elastoplastic structural problems. The stress field is approximated in the domain of the elements and the displacements on its boundary. The displacement, velocity and acceleration approximations in the domain of the element are implicit, in the sense that they result from a combination of the stress estimate with the time integration procedure that ensures that the equilibrium condition is locally satisfied. The finite elements are subdivided in plastic cells where a gradient dependent model is implemented using a hybrid formulation based on the approximation of the plastic parameter and the plastic radiation fields in the domain and on the boundary of the plastic cells, respectively. Generalized variables associated with orthogonal and naturally hierarchical bases are used. The resulting solving systems are symmetric, sparse, p‐adaptive and well suited to parallel processing. The performance of the element is assessed using a representative set of testing problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deviatoric hybrid model and multivariable elimination at element level for incompressible medium

A deviatoric hybrid element approach, in which the deviatoric stress σ′, the pressure p and the displacement u are independently dealt with as the element variables, is suggested. The present approach is naturally universal for compressible and fully incompressible mediums. Moreover, it can be extended to the simulation of Stokes flow directly. The resulting hybrid model is able to meet the zero volumetric strain constraint in terms of the incompatible displacement mode only. Therefore an incompressible elimination can be carried out within an individual element, and the complex system elimination for nodal displacements is then avoided. The present 3‐field hybrid model maintains the important features of current hybrid stress elements—finally resulting in a set of displacement‐type discrete equations which can be easily solved, while not a set of u ‐p mixed‐type equations resulted. Regarding the numerical stability of the element, an effective strategy is offered to suppress all the zero energy modes hidden in the model. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An effective method of stress intensity factor calculation for cracks emanating from a triangular or square hole under biaxial loads

This paper is concerned with stress intensity factors for cracks emanating from a triangular or square hole under biaxial loads by means of a new boundary element method. The boundary element method consists of the constant displacement discontinuity element presented by Crouch and Starfied and the crack‐tip displacement discontinuity elements proposed by the author. In the boundary element implementation, the left or the right crack‐tip displacement discontinuity element is placed locally at the corresponding left or right crack tip on top of the constant displacement discontinuity elements that cover the entire crack surface and the other boundaries. The method is called a Hybrid Displacement Discontinuity Method (HDDM). Numerical examples are included to show that the method is very efficient and accurate for calculating stress intensity factors for plane elastic crack problems. In addition, the present numerical results can reveal the effect of the biaxial loads on stress intensity factors.     

Rectangular tensile sheet with single edge crack or edge half-circular-hole crack

By using the displacement discontinuity method with crack-tip elements (a boundary element method) proposed recently by the author, this note presents the stress intensity factors (SIFs) of a rectangular tensile plate with single edge crack. Further this note studies the SIFs of crack emanating from an edge half-circular hole. By comparing the calculated SIFs of the single edge half-circular-hole crack with those of the single edge crack, a shielding effect of the half-circular hole on the SIFs of the single edge crack is discussed. It is found that the boundary element method is simple, yet accurate for calculating the SIFs of complex crack problems in finite plate.     

A triangular plate element for thermo‐elastic analysis of sandwich panels with a functionally graded core

A sandwich construction is commonly composed of a single soft isotropic core with relatively stiff orthotropic face sheets. The stiffness of the core may be functionally graded through the thickness in order to reduce the interfacial shear stresses. In analysing sandwich panels with a functionally gradient core, the three‐dimensional conventional finite elements or elements based on the layerwise (zig‐zag) theory can be used. Although these elements accurately model a sandwich panel, they are computationally costly when the core is modelled as composed of several layers due to its grading material properties. An alternative to these elements is an element based on a single‐layer plate theory in which the weighted‐average field variablescapture the panel deformation in the thickness direction. This study presents a new triangular finite element based on {3,2}‐order single‐layer theory for modelling thick sandwich panels with or without a functionally graded core subjected to thermo‐mechanical loading. A hybrid energy functional is employed in the derivation of the element because of a C¹ interelement continuity requirement. The variations of temperature and distributed loading acting on the top and bottom surfaces are non‐uniform. The temperature also varies arbitrarily through the thickness. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hybrid finite element method for heterogeneous materials with randomly dispersed rigid inclusions

A hybrid finite element approach is proposed for the mechanical response of two-dimensional heterogeneous materials with linearly elastic matrix and randomly dispersed rigid circular inclusions of arbitrary sizes. In conventional finite element methods, many elements must be used to represent one inclusion. In this work, each inclusion is embedded inside a polygonal element and only one element is required to represent one inclusion. In numerically approximating stress and displacement distributions around the inclusion, classical elasticity solutions for a multiply-connected region are employed. A modified hybrid functional is used as the basis of the element formulation where the displacement boundary conditions of the element are automatically considered in a variational sense. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated by two boundary value problems. In one example, the results based on the proposed method with only 64 hybrid elements (450 degrees of freedom) are shown to be almost identical to those based on the traditional method with 2928 conventional elements (5526 degrees of freedom).     

A simple cubic displacement element for plate bending

Early attempts to construct a triangular finite element for plate bending problems from a compatible cubic displacement field are not entirely satisfactory. The present paper shows how an accurate plate element can be achieved using independent cubic polynomial assumptions for the internal and boundary displacements in conjunction with a modified potential energy principle. This approach yields a simple algebraic formulation with favourable connection quantities at the element vertices which will appeal to practical users of the conventional finite element displacement method. Moreover, in Appendix I it is shown that the cubic element is identical to a previous hybrid stress element with linear internal bending and twisting moments and cubic boundary displacements. The stresses obtained from the former hybrid finite element solution therefore satisfy the strain compatibility conditions exactly. This remarkable result has an important significance in the theory of hybrid finite elements.