A smoothed finite element method for shell analysis

N. Nguyen-Thanh, Timon Rabczuk, H. Nguyen-Xuan, Stéphane P.A. Bordas

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    214 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A four-node quadrilateral shell element with smoothed membrane-bending based on Mindlin-Reissner theory is proposed. The element is a combination of a plate bending and membrane element. It is based on mixed interpolation where the bending and membrane stiffness matrices are calculated on the boundaries of the smoothing cells while the shear terms are approximated by independent interpolation functions in natural coordinates. The proposed element is robust, computationally inexpensive and free of locking. Since the integration is done on the element boundaries for the bending and membrane terms, the element is more accurate than the MITC4 element for distorted meshes. This will be demonstrated for several numerical examples.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)165-177
    Number of pages13
    JournalComputer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
    Volume198
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2008 Dec 1

    Keywords

    • MITC4 elements
    • Shell elements
    • Smoothed finite elements (SFEM)

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Computational Mechanics
    • Mechanics of Materials
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • General Physics and Astronomy
    • Computer Science Applications

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'A smoothed finite element method for shell analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this