Nonlinear Deformation and Numerical Post-Buckling Analysis of Plate Structures Using the Assumed Natural Strain Concept

In this study, an efficient triangular element for the fast nonlinear analysis of moderately thick Mindlin–Reissner plates is proposed. The element is formulated using a newly developed method, which is based on the assumed natural strain concept, and called Continuously Variable Strain (CVS). The continuous higher-order strain field is proposed by using the fundamental lemma of the variational calculus. Furthermore, the updated Lagrangian tensor together with rigid body terms is employed allowing for large deformations. The proposed element (CVST10), which is obtained by minimizing the total potential energy, has only 10 degrees of freedom and demonstrates high-efficiency and fast convergence rate in analysis of problems with coarse and distorted meshes. The arc-length iterative technique is applied to handle the geometrically post-buckling behavior of homogeneous plates under various load and boundary conditions. Various numerical examples prove the accuracy of the proposed element.

Modeling and analysis of spiral actuators by exact geometry piezoelectric solid-shell elements

An exact geometry four-node piezoelectric solid-shell element through the sampling surfaces formulation is proposed. The sampling surfaces formulation is based on choosing inside the shell N – 2 sampling surfaces parallel to the middle surface and located at Chebyshev polynomial nodes to introduce the displacements and electric potentials of these surfaces as fundamental shell unknowns. The bottom and top surfaces are also included into a set of sampling surfaces. Such choice of unknowns with the use of Lagrange polynomials of degree N – 1 in the through-the-thickness interpolations of displacements, strains, electric potential, and electric field yields a robust piezoelectric shell formulation. To implement efficient analytical integration throughout the solid-shell element, the extended assumed natural strain method is employed. The developed hybrid-mixed four-node piezoelectric solid-shell element is based on the Hu-Washizu variational principle and shows the excellent performance for coarse mesh configurations. It can be useful for the 3D stress analysis of piezoelectric shells with variable curvatures, in particular for the modeling and analysis of spiral actuators.

Exact geometry SaS solid-shell element for 3D stress analysis of FGM piezoelectric structures

A hybrid-mixed functionally graded material (FGM) piezoelectric four-node solid-shell element through the sampling surfaces (SaS) method is proposed. The SaS formulation is based on choosing inside the shell N SaS parallel to the middle surface in order to introduce the displacements and electric potentials of these surfaces as fundamental shell unknowns. Such choice of unknowns with the use of Lagrange polynomials of degree N-1 in through-thickness interpolations of the displacements, strains, electric potential, electric field and material properties leads to a robust FGM piezoelectric shell formulation. The inner SaS are located at Chebyshev polynomial nodes that make it possible to minimize uniformly the error due to Lagrange interpolation. To implement the effective analytical integration throughout the element, the extended assumed natural strain (ANS) method is employed. As a result, the piezoelectric four-node solid-shell element exhibits a superior performance in the case of coarse meshes. To circumvent shear and membrane locking, the hybrid stress-strain solid-shell formulation via the Hu-Washizu variational principle is employed. The developed solid-shell element could be useful for the 3D stress analysis of FGMstructures because the SaS method allows obtaining the solutions with a prescribed accuracy, which asymptotically approach the exact solutions of electroelasticity as the number of SaS tends to infinity.

Development of Shear Deformable Laminated Shell Element and its Application to ANCF Tire Model

In this investigation, a physics-based tire model for multibody vehicle dynamics simulation is developed using the laminated composite shell element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation with the transverse slope coordinates. The shell element accounts for the complex deformation coupling exhibited in fiber-reinforced composite rubber materials used in tires, and the element lockings are systematically eliminated by the assumed natural strain and enhanced strain approaches. Furthermore, various nonlinear material models including incompressible rubber material models can be considered for each layer in a way same as solid elements. The load-deflection curve and the contact patch lengths are validated against the test data to ensure that the fundamental structural tire properties can be correctly captured by the tire model.