Finite element analysis of shells with layers

It is well established that thin shell structures frequently feature narrow bands of strain concentration and localized displacement irregularities referred to as boundary and internal layers. It is crucial to capture these layers properly as they can be sources of structural failures. Unfortunately, while the absence of analytical solutions to most shell problems of practical interest has spawned the development of a variety of finite element formulations over the years, largely speaking these schemes were proposed without a rigorous and comprehensive testing procedure available. We are now faced with a wealth of existing formulations and little way to assess their ability to model boundary and internal layers. Most of the difficulties in assessing the performance of shell finite elements stem from the use of mixed formulations. These are necessary to alleviate the locking phenomenon present in bending-dominated problems when displacement-based formulations are used. We develop a new error measure approach that is physically-based and can be used to assess the performance of mixed-interpolated shell finite element formulations. We apply this approach to the MITC (Mixed Interpolation of Tensorial Components) family of shell elements, a widely-used mixed formulation. We focus in particular on the performance of these elements when employed to analyze problems featuring layers, and specifically we assess the effect of mesh refinement in the regions where layers are present.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Hiller, Jean-François, 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Klaus-Jürgen Bathe.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29255

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/29255