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The identification and elimination of artificial stiffening errors in finite elements
Author(s) -
Dow John O.,
Byrd Doyle E.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.1620260316
Subject(s) - stiffening , finite element method , discretization , stiffness matrix , shear (geology) , timoshenko beam theory , structural engineering , stiffness , computer science , mathematics , engineering , mathematical analysis , materials science , composite material
The causes of shear locking and other discretization errors are analysed using a physically interpretable notation. This analysis provides insights that allow the errors due to shear locking to be removed either directly or indirectly. St. Venant's principle is incorporated into the stiffness matrix to directly eliminate shear locking from bending elements. Rules‐of‐thumb are suggested by the same analysis that will insure the absence of errors due to shear locking at the cost of additional degrees of freedom. It is also shown that aspect ratio stiffening in membrane elements is partially due to the same modelling error that produces shear locking. The source of parasitic shear is also identified and a direct procedure for eliminating it is given. A two node Timoshenko beam element and a four node membrane element are fully developed in symbolic form. The procedure is directly applicable to plate bending elements.