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.     

Nonlinear shell models with seven kinematic parameters

We discuss design of nonlinear finite rotation shell model with seven kinematic displacement-like parameters, which are: three displacements of the middle surface, two rotations of the shell director, and two through-the-thickness stretching parameters. From the theoretical side we examine several possibilities for constructing the enriched kinematic field, which leads to different higher-order 7-parameter shell formulations. From the finite element implementation side a shell director interpolation is identified which eliminates the “curvature thickness locking”. Numerical examples are presented in order to compare different formulations and to illustrate the performance of the developed finite elements.     

Design sensitivity analysis with isoparametric shell elements

This paper deals with design sensitivity calculation by the direct differentiation method for isoparametric curved shell elements. Sensitivity parameters include geometric variables which influence the size and the shape of a structure, as well as the shell thickness. The influence of design variables, therefore, may be separated into two distinct contributions. The parametric mapping within an element, as well as the influence of geometric variables on the orientation of an element in space, is accounted for by the sensitivity calculation of geometric variables, and efficient formulations of sensitivity calculation are derived for the element stiffness, the geometric stiffness and the mass matrices. The methods presented here are applied to the sensitivity calculations of displacement, stress, buckling stress and natural frequency of typical basic examples such as a square plate and a cylindrical shell. The numerical results are compared with the theoretical solutions and finite difference values.     

Buckling and vibration analysis of laminated composite plate/shell structures via a smoothed quadrilateral flat shell element with in-plane rotations

This paper presents buckling and free vibration analysis of composite plate/shell structures of various shapes, modulus ratios, span-to-thickness ratios, boundary conditions and lay-up sequences via a novel smoothed quadrilateral flat element. The element is developed by incorporating a strain smoothing technique into a flat shell approach. As a result, the evaluation of membrane, bending and geometric stiffness matrices are based on integration along the boundary of smoothing elements, which leads to accurate numerical solutions even with badly-shaped elements. Numerical examples and comparison with other existing solutions show that the present element is efficient, accurate and free of locking.     

Vibration and damping analysis of composite plates using finite elements with layerwise in-plane displacements

Finite element analysis is performed to study the effects of layerwise in-plane displacements on fundamental frequencies and specific damping capacity for composite laminated plates. The cross-ply and angle-ply composite laminated plates with simply-supported boundary conditions are considered. The strain energies of each stress component are computed to quantify the amount of the transverse shear deformations for thin and thick plates. The results show that the length-to-thickness ratios, cross-ply ratios, and fiber orientations have a great influence on the in-plane displacement responses. It is also shown that the layerwise in-plane displacements should be taken into account for the dynamic analysis of thick composite plate.     

Shape design optimization of stationary fluid-structure interaction problems with large displacements and turbulence

This paper presents general and efficient methods for analysis and gradient based shape optimization of systems characterized as strongly coupled stationary fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems. The incompressible fluid flow can be laminar or turbulent and is described using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) together with the algebraic Baldwin–Lomax turbulence model. The structure may exhibit large displacements due to the interaction with the fluid domain, resulting in geometrically nonlinear structural behaviour and nonlinear interface coupling conditions. The problem is discretized using Galerkin and Streamline-Upwind/Petrov–Galerkin finite element methods, and the resulting nonlinear equations are solved using Newtons method. Due to the large displacements of the structure, an efficient update algorithm for the fluid mesh must be applied, leading to the use of an approximate Jacobian matrix in the solution routine. Expressions for Design Sensitivity Analysis (DSA) are derived using the direct differentiation approach, and the use of an inexact Jacobian matrix in the analysis leads to an iterative but very efficient scheme for DSA. The potential of gradient based shape optimization of fluid flow and FSI problems is illustrated by several examples.     

Membrane locking and assumed strain shell elements

An explanation of membrane locking behaviour in shell elements and also the use of reduced and selective integration is described. To overcome the conflict between the locking and mechanism problems the author proposed the degenerated shell elements with assumed transverse shear and membrane strains. The location of sampling points for the assumed strain fields is given in the present work. In the formulation of the new elements, assumed transverse shear strains in the natural coordinate system are used to overcome the shear locking problem. Also, assumed membrane strains in the orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system are applied to avoid membrane locking behaviour. Some numerical tests are presented to illustrate the good performance of the assumed strain shell elements.     

Coupled shell-fluid interaction problems with degenerate shell and three-dimensional fluid elements

Discrete methods for practical coupled three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction problems are developed. A C° explicitly integrated two-dimensional degenerate shell element and a three-dimensional fluid element are coupled to study shell dynamics, fluid transient and coupled shell-fluid interaction problems. The method of partitioning is used to integrate the fluid and shell meshes in a staggered fashion in an optimum manner. Effective explicit-implicit partitioning is shown to achieve high computational efficiency for this type of problem.     

Curved shell elements for heat conduction with p-approximation in the shell thickness direction

A finite element formulation is presented for the curved shell elements for heat conduction where the element temperature approximation in the shell thickness direction can be of an arbitrary polynomial order p. This is accomplished by introducing additional nodal variables in the element approximation corresponding to the complete Lagrange interpolating polynomials in the shell thickness direction. This family of elements has the important hierarchical property, i.e. the element properties corresponding to an approximation order p are a subset of the element properties corresponding to an approximation order p + 1. The formulation also enforces continuity or smoothness of temperature across the inter-element boundaries, i.e. C⁰ continuity is guaranteed.

The curved shell geometry is constructed using the co-ordinates of the nodes lying on the middle surface of the shell and the nodal point normals to the middle surface. The element temperature field is defined in terms of hierarchical element approximation functions, nodal temperatures and the derivatives of the nodal temperatures in the element thickness direction corresponding to the complete Lagrange interpolating polynomials. The weak formulation (or the quadratic functional) of the three-dimensional Fourier heat conduction equation is constructed in the Cartesian co-ordinate space. The element properties of the curved shell elements are then derived using the weak formulation (or the quadratic functional) and the hierarchical element approximation. The element matrices and the equivalent heat vectors (resulting from distributed heat flux, convective boundaries and internal heat generation) are all of hierarchical nature. The element formulation permits any desired order of temperature distribution through the shell thickness.

A number of numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the superiority, efficiency and accuracy of the present formulation and the results are also compared with the analytical solutions. For the first three examples, the h-approximation results are also presented for comparison purposes.     

Isoparametric axisymmetric shell elements with temperature gradients for heat conduction

This paper presents a finite element formulation for axisymmetric shell heat conduction where temperature gradients through the shell thickness are retained as primary nodal variables. The element geometry is constructed using the coordinates of the nodes lying on the middle surface of the shell and the middle surface nodal point normals. The element temperature field is approximated in terms of element approximation functions, the nodal temperature, and the nodal temperature gradients. The weak formulation of the two-dimensional Fourier heat conduction equation in cylindrical coordinate system is constructed. The finite element properties of the shell element are then derived using the weak formulation and the element temperature field approximation. The formulation permits linear temperature gradients through the shell thickness. Distributed heat flux as well as convective boundaries are permitted on all four faces of the element. Furthermore, the element can also have internal heat generation as well as orthotropic material properties. The superiority of the formulation in terms of efficiency and accuracy is demonstrated. Numerical examples are presented and a comparison is made with the theoretical results.     

Laminated composite structures by continuum-based shell elements with transverse deformation

In this paper a first-order shear/fourth-order transverse deformation theory of laminated composite shells is presented. A nonlinear continuum-based (degenerated 3D) finite element model with a strain/stress enhancement technique is developed in such a way that the nonzero surface traction boundary conditions and the interlaminar shear stress continuity conditions are all satisfied identically. Analytical integration through the shell thickness is performed. The resultants of the stress integrations are expressed in terms of the laminate stacking sequence. Consequently, the shell laminate characteristics in the normal direction can be evaluated precisely and the computational cost of the overall analysis is reduced. The numerical results are compared with analytical solutions and other finite element solutions to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theory and the computational procedure developed herein.     

Vibration of buckled elastic structures with large rotations by an asymptotic numerical method

A methodological approach based on the finite element and perturbation methods (asymptotic numerical method) has been developed for small vibration analyses of post-buckled shells with large displacements and large rotations. The coupled non-linear static and dynamic problems based on non-linear shells theory are transformed into a sequence of linear problems. Only two linear operators have to be inverted and a large number of terms of the polynomial approximation are numerically computed. The static non-linear response, the load–displacement solution, and the load–frequency dependence are investigated for large amplitudes. The load–frequency curves are obtained for various natural frequencies at any desired load level. A continuation procedure based on Padé approximants is used to get the whole solution. Limit points, bifurcation points and stability zones are analysed. The efficiency of this procedure is tested in some benchmark problems such as rectangular plates, thin and thick cylindrical roofs and deep arches.     

A computational study of radiometric phenomena for poweringmicroactuators with unlimited displacements and large available forces

Microactuators utilizing radiometric forces are described. A candidate actuator formed from a series of vanes mounted on an armature positioned between two closely spaced bounding surfaces was assumed for the study. Controlled heating of the vanes or portions of the bounding surfaces generates a rarefied gas dynamic force leading to a displacement of the vanes and armature. Parametric direct simulation Monte Carlo calculations have been obtained to estimate the performance of a nominal actuator and assess its sensitivity to rarefaction (controlled by a combination of actuator size and ambient gas pressure), vane configuration (inclination and placement), and location of energy input. Results show that the proposed class of actuators can provide relatively large available forces and, at least in principle, unlimited, reversible displacements     

Quadrilateral finite elements for analysis of thick and thin plates

We discuss two quadrilateral plate elements applicable in the analysis of both thick and thin plates. The elements are based on Reissner-Mindlin plate theory and an enhanced displacement interpolation, which enables the consistent loading vector to be constructed. The constraint on the constant shear strain is enforced explicitly thus eliminating the shear locking phenomena in the analysis of thin plates. As a by-product of this work, we take a new look at a well-known discrete Kirchhoff plate element.     

Hybrid-stress isoparametric elements for moderately thick and thin multilayer plates

A hybrid-stress formulation of isoparametric elements for the analysis of moderately thick and thin multilayer laminated composite plates is presented. The element displacement behavior is characterized by laminate reference-surface inplane and transverse displacements and laminate nonnormal crosssection rotations; as a result, the number of degrees of freedom is independent of the number of layers. All components of stress are included and are related to a set of laminate stress parameters, the number of which is independent of the number of layers. By isolating and analytically integrating all through-thickness contributions to the element matrices, the computation time for the element stiffness generation becomes nearly independent of the number of layers, and thus a computationally efficient element is produced. The formulation is used to develop an 8-node isoparametric multilayer plate element which is naturally invariant, of correct rank, and nonlocking in the thin-plate limit. Results for selected example problems show the range of applicability and convergence behavior of the element.     

Analysis of laminated shells with laminated stiffeners using rectangular shell finite elements

A finite element analysis of laminated shells reinforced with laminated stiffeners is described in this paper. A rectangular laminated anisotropic shallow thin shell finite element of 48 d.o.f. is used in conjunction with a laminated anisotropic curved beam and shell stiffening finite element having 16 d.o.f. Compatibility between the shell and the stiffener is maintained all along their junction line. Some problems of symmetrically stiffened isotropic plates and shells have been solved to evaluate the performance of the present method. Behaviour of an eccentrically stiffened laminated cantilever cylindrical shell has been predicted to show the ability of the present program. General shells amenable to rectangular meshes can also be solved in a similar manner.     

Dynamic analysis of thick laminated shell panel with piezoelectric layer based on three dimensional elasticity solution

Elasticity solution is presented for infinitely long, simply-supported, orthotropic, piezoelectric shell panel under dynamic pressure excitation. The direct and inverse piezoelectric effects are considered. The highly coupled partial differential equations (p.d.e.) are reduced to ordinary differential equations (o.d.e.) with variable coefficients by means of trigonometric function expansion in circumferential direction. The resulting ordinary differential equations are solved by the finite element method. Numerical examples are presented for [0/90/P] lamination, where P indicates the piezoelectric layer. Finally the results are compared with the published results.     

The quadratic MITC plate and MITC shell elements in plate bending

The analysis of plates can be achieved using the quadratic MITC plate or MITC shell elements. The plate elements have a strong mathematical basis and have been shown to be optimal in their convergence behavior, theoretically and numerically. The shell elements have not (yet) been analyzed mathematically in depth for their rates of convergence, with the plate/shell thickness varying, but have been shown numerically to perform well. Since the shell elements are general and can be used for linear and nonlinear analyses of plates and shells, it is important to identify the differences in the performance of these elements when compared to the plate elements. We briefly review the quadratic quadrilateral and triangular MITC plate and shell elements and study their performances in linear plate analyses.     

Sensitivity of structural response in context of linear and non-linear buckling analysis with solid shell finite elements

The paper is concerned with the sensitivity analysis of structural responses in context of linear and non-linear stability phenomena like buckling and snapping. The structural analysis covering these stability phenomena is summarised. Design sensitivity information for a solid shell finite element is derived. The mixed formulation is based on the Hu-Washizu variational functional. Geometrical non-linearities are taken into account with linear elastic material behaviour. Sensitivities are derived analytically for responses of linear and non-linear buckling analysis with discrete finite element matrices. Numerical examples demonstrate the shape optimisation maximising the smallest eigenvalue of the linear buckling analysis and the directly computed critical load scales at bifurcation and limit points of non-linear buckling analysis, respectively. Analytically derived gradients are verified using the finite difference approach.