Simple and efficient shear flexible two-node arch/beam and four-node cylindrical shell/plate finite elements

Several simple and accurate C° two-node arch/beam and four-node cylindrical shell/plate finite elements are presented in this paper. The formulation used here is based on the refined theory of thick cylindrical shells and the quasi-conforming element technique. Unlike most C° elements, the element stiffness matrix presented here is given explicitly. In spite of their simplicity, these C° finite elements posseses linear bending strains and are free from the deficiencies existing in curved C° elements such as shear and membrane locking, spurious kinematic modes and numerical ill-conditioning. These finite elements are valid not only for thick/thin beams and plates, but also for arches/straight beams and cylindrical shells/plates. Furthermore, these C° elements can automatically reduce to the corresponding C¹ beam and plate elements and give the C° beam element obtained by the reduced integration as a special case. Several numerical examples indicate that the simple two-node arch/beam and four-node cylindrical shell/plate elements given in this paper are superior to the existing C° elements with the same element degrees of freedom. Only the formulation of the rectangular cylindrical shell and plate element is presented in this paper. The formulation of an arbitrarily quadrilateral plate element will be presented in a follow-up paper³².     

拟协调九结点四边形退化壳单元

本文根据胡－鹫津变分原理和退化壳有限元概念，构造了一个拟协调（或称杂交／混合）九结点四边形退化壳单元ＣＳＨ９．该单元克服了剪切闭锁和膜闭锁现象，整体上无零能模式，通过了分片检验。数值算例表明该单元是相当准确的和有效的。     

实体退化板单元及其在板的振动分析中的应用

经典板壳单元是由板壳理论构造出来的,而经典的板壳理论是在空间弹性理论的基础上考虑板壳的基本假定得来的。在空间等参数单元的基础上,直接引入板壳的基本假定,修改空间等参数单元的弹性矩阵,从而构造出适合于厚薄板壳分析的20结点实体退化板单元,并将其应用于开口圆柱薄壳的静力分析和厚薄板的固有振动分析。数值算例表明,该单元收敛快,稳定性好,具有较高的精度。此外,该单元还可以用于曲边变厚度板、壳体及层合板的振动分析。     

Geometrically non-linear analysis of symmetrically laminated composite and sandwich shells with a higher-order theory and C finite elements

A C⁰ continuous displacement based finite element formulation of a higher order theory for linear and geometrically non-linear analysis which accounts for large displacements in the sense of von Karman of symmetrically laminated composite and sandwich shells under transverse loads is presented. The displacement model accounts for non-linear and constant variation of tangential and transverse displacement components, respectively, through the shell thickness. The assumed displacement model climinates the use of shear correction coefficients. The discrete element chosen is a nine-node quadrilateral element with nine degress of freedom per node. The accuracy of the present formulation is then established by comparing the present results with the available analytical. closed-form two-dimensional solutions, three-dimensional elasticity solutions and other finite element solutions. Some new results are generated for future comparisons to and evaluations of sandwich shells.     

Automatic adaptive refinement for shell analysis using nine-node assumed strain element

An automatic adaptive refinement procedure for the analysis of shell structures using the nine-node degenerated solid shell element is suggested. The basic adaptive refinement principle and the effects of singularities and boundary layers on the convergence rate of the nine-node element used are discussed. A new stress recovery procedure based on the patch convective co-ordinate system concept is developed for the construction of a continuous smoothed stress field over the shell domains. The stress recovery procedure is easy to implement, requires a modest computational effort and needs only local patch information. It can be applied to shells with non-uniform thickness as well as to multi-layered shell structures. The smoothed recovered stress obtained is then used with the Zienkiewicz and Zhu error estimator for a posteriori error estimation during the adaptive refinement analysis. Numerical results which are in good agreement with theoretical predictions are obtained and they indicate that the current adaptive refinement procedure can eliminate the effect of singularities inside the problem domains so that a near-optimal convergence rate is achieved in all the numerical examples. This also indicates that the stress recovery procedure can produce an accurate stress field and as a result the error estimator can reflect the error distribution of the finite element solution. Even though in the current study only one type of element is used in the analysis, the whole adaptive refinement scheme can be readily applied to any other types of degenerated solid element. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of discretized errors and adaptive refinement with quadrilateral finite elements

This paper studies discretized errors, and their estimation in conjunction with quadrilateral finite element meshes which are generated by the intelligent mesh generator XFORMQ.¹ The exact energy error is used to evaluate the distortion effect of the quadrilateral mesh. The Zienkiewicz–Zhu² error estimate and actaptive procedure are applied to the short cantilever and the square plate problems using the quadrilateral mesh generator XFORMQ. It is shown that the multistage quadrilateral element refinement produces results superior to the triangular element refinement in the test cases.     

基于改进弧长法的层压复合壳后屈曲反应分析

研究了层压复合壳在横向均匀外压作用下的后屈曲反应.应用全拉格朗日公式描述和9结点退化三维壳单元.提出了一种渐进破坏的模式,并且引入改进的弧长法用于非线性有限元分析.重点研究了不同铺设顺序及方向的层压复合壳后屈曲变形形态和破坏过程.数值计算结果的精度和稳定性得以证实.     

Dynamic large deflection response of composite laminates subjected to impact

Impact responses of composite laminates with and without initial stresses are investigated using the finite element method. A nine-node isoparametric quadrilateral element based on the Mindlin plate theory and the von Karman large deflection assumptions is developed. An experimentally established contact law which accounts for the permanent indentation is incorporated into the finite element program to evaluate the impact force. In the time integration, the Newmark constant acceleration algorithm is used in conjunction with successive iterations within each time step. Numerical results, including the contact force histories, deflections and strains in the plate, are presented.     

An investigation of a finite rotation four node assumed strain shell element

The paper presents a shell formulation based on the ‘degenerated solid approach’. The theory employs covariant strains and performs explicit integration through the shell thickness. The rigid body motion is exactly represented. The consistent tangent stiffness matrix is evaluated for the four node quadrilateral. It is shown, in the final part, that this type of element, which distinguishes itself by a very simple and easily understandable theory, gives good answers for linear as well as non-linear applications.     

Curved quadratic triangular degenerated‐ and solid‐shell elements for geometric non‐linear analysis

Compared to the large number of curved quadrilateral degenerated‐ and solid‐shell elements, there are only a very few curved triangular degenerated‐ and solid‐shell elements. Based on the assumed natural strain sampling scheme previously developed for a quadratic degenerated‐shell element for linear analysis, this paper devises geometric non‐linear six‐node degenerated‐shell and twelve‐node solid‐shell elements. Both elements can be curved and are only equipped with the standard nodal d.o.f.s. Careful consideration has been exercised to circumvent various locking phenomena that plague degenerated‐ and solid‐shell elements. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate their efficacy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite deformation formulation of a shell element for problems of sheet metal forming

An elastic-plastic thin shell finite element suitable for problems of finite deformation in sheet metal forming is formulated. Hill's yield criterion for sheet materials of normal anisotropy is applied. A nonlinear shell theory in a form of an incremental variational principle and a quasi-conforming element technique are employed in the Lagrangian formulation. The shell element fulfills the inter-element C ¹ continuity condition in a variational sense and has a sufficient rank to allow finite stretching, rotation and bending of the shell element. The accuracy and efficiency of the finite element formulation are illustrated by numerical examples.     

A higher-order facet quadrilateral composite shell element

A C⁰ finite element formulation of flat faceted element based on a higher-order displacement model is presented for the analysis of general, thin-to-thick, fibre reinforced composite laminated plates and shells. This theory incorporates a realistic non-linear variation of displacements through the shell thickness, and eliminates the use of shear correction coefficients. The discrete element chosen is a nine-noded quadrilateral with five and nine degrees of freedom per node. A comparison of results is also made with the 2-D thin classical and 3-D exact analytical results, and finite element solutions with 9-noded first-order element. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A C0 three-node shell element for non-linear structural analysis

A C⁰ three-node shell finite element well suited to non-linear calculations is proposed. The element is based on Mindlin kinematics and the degenerated solid approach. Linear Lagrange functions are used for geometry and displacement interpolations. The formulation is made in the natural material frame. A strain interpolation avoids shear locking and an intermediate material frame related to the element sides is introduced in order to fix nodal transverse shear strain components. The modifications of strain interpolations concern both the non-linear and linear parts of strain and are taken into account in ail calculations, among others in the expression of the initial stress stiffness matrix. A single set of integration points on the normal at the centre of gravity is sufficient, which is very interesting for numerical efficiency especially in the case of non-linear analyses.     

A geometrically non-linear tensorial formulation of a skewed quadrilateral thin shell finite element

A 48-degree-of-freedom (d.o.f.) skewed quadrilateral thin shell finite element, including the effect of geometrical non-linearity, is formulated and appropriate numerical procedures are adopted for the development of an efficient approach for the static and dynamic analysis of general thin shell structures. The element surface is described by a variable-order polynomial in curvilinear co-ordinates. The displacement functions are described by bicubic Hermitian polynomials in curvilinear co-ordinates. The directions of the curvilinear co-ordinates at each nodal point are uniquely defined to coincide with the directions of the boundaries of the element. In the present case of a skewed quadrilateral with non-orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, the coupling terms of the metric tensor and curvature tensor of the surface no longer vanish, such as in the case of orthogonal co-ordinates. The tensor form is used in the setup of the shape functions, geometric derivatives, stiffness matrix and computer code. This allows for the treatment of shells with irregular shapes and variable curvatures. To evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of this formulation, a systematic list of examples is chosen: (i) linear and non-linear static analysis of square and rhombic plates, cylindrical and spherical shells; (ii) linear vibrations of trapezoidal flat and curved plates; (iii) large amplitude vibrations of a rhombic plate. For the square plate and cylindrical and spherical shell, shewed element meshes with various distortion angles are used to study the effect of the distortion angles on the accuracy of the results and to demonstrate the versatility of the present element. All results are compared with alternative available solutions including those obtained using regular rectangular meshes. Pinched thin cylindrical and spherical shells are studied using different skewed meshes and various Gauss integration meshes, and no membrane locking phenomenon is observed.     

New finite element model for analysis of Kirchhoff plate

A new kind of approach to formulate an isotropic thin plate bending element is presented. The strain energy of the element is decomposed into two parts: an integral concerning the first strain invariant and a line integral around the elemental boundary. The former can be discretized by quasi-conforming technique¹ and the latter can be directly calculated using the interpolation of the deflection and its normal slope along the element boundary. By this method, an assumed first strain invariant quadrilateral element (AFSIQ) is derived. The procedure of formulating the element and the numerical examples show that the new kind of element not only simplifies the formulation considerably but also has excellent accuracy.     

Hybrid stress finite element model for non-linear shell problems

The present paper describes a hybrid stress finite element formulation for geometrically non-linear analysis of thin shell structures. The element properties are derived from an incremental form of Hellinger-Reissner's variational principle in which all quantities are referred to the current configuration of the shell. From this multi-field variational principle, a hybrid stress finite element model is derived using standard matrix notation. Very simple flat triangular and quadrilateral elements are employed in the present study. The resulting non-linear equations are solved by applying the load in finite increments and restoring equilibrium by Newton-Raphson iteratioin. Numerical examples presented in the paper include complete snap-through buckling of cylindrical and spherical shells. It turns out that the present procedure is computationally efficient and accurate for non-linear shell problems of high complexity.     

管节点承载力的非线性有限元分析

本文提出了运用四边形等参壳元构造管节点有限元模型,用自动步长增量法来计算管节点的极限承载力：在ＡＤＩＮＡ程序的基础上开发了前处理和后处理程序,使管节点（包括空间管节点）的有限元分析的成本大大降低;平面管节点的算例表明本文方法与实验结果相吻合,在此基础上本文提出并计算了圆管与矩形管管节点。     

Buckling response of laminated composite stiffened plates subjected to partial in-plane edge loading

This article presents the buckling analysis of laminated composite stiffened plates subjected to partial in-plane edge loading. The finite element method is used to carry out the analysis. The eight-noded isoparametric degenerated shell element with C⁰ continuity and first-order shear deformation and a compatible three-noded curved beam element are used to model the plate skin and the stiffeners, respectively. The eigen value analysis is carried out to track the buckling load. The convergence study is performed for some specific problems and the results are compared with the available results in the literature. It is observed that the convergence of results is very fast for this finite element model. Effect of different parameters like orientation of fibers, number of layers, and loading types are considered in the present investigation. It is also observed that all these parameters have significant effect on the buckling response of the composite stiffened plate.     

Refined hybrid degenerated shell element for geometrically non-linear analysis

Based on a variational principle with relaxed inter-element continuity requirements, a refined hybrid quadrilateral degenerated shell element GNRH6, which is a non-conforming model with six internal displacements, is proposed for the geometrically non-linear analysis. The orthogonal approach and non-conforming modes are incorporated into the geometrically non-linear formulation. Numerical results show that the orthogonal approach can improve computational efficiency while the non-conforming modes can eliminate the shear/membrane locking phenomenon and improve the accuracy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of laminated bimodulus composite thin shells of revolution using a doubly curved quadrilateral finite element

This paper presents a finite element analysis of laminated bimodulus composite thin shells of revolution using a 48 d.o.f. doubly curved quadrilateral finite element. All the three displacements of the shell element reference surface are expressed as products of one-dimensional first-order Hermite interpolation polynomials. The constitutive relationship for a bimodulus composite is assumed to depend on the fibre-direction strain experienced by each orthotropic layer. Consequently the true state of strain and the corresponding constitutive relationship in a bimodulus composite structure are to be determined iteratively. The true state of stress/strain is obtained by specifying a maximum error in the locations of the two neutral surfaces (one along each of the orthogonal reference axes) in the shell. The use of the quadrilateral shell finite element is validated by solving the problem of (i) a freely supported single layer (0°) bimodulus composite square plate and (ii) a freely supported single layer (0°) cylindrical panel, which are subjected to sinusoidal transverse loading and for which analytical solutions are available. Next, the problems of a single layer (90°) pinched cylindrical shell and a single layer (0°) open crown hemispherical shell are solved to show the ability of the present program.