A Curved C0 Shell Element Based on Assumed Natural-Coordinate Strains

Abstract

A curved C0 shell element is presented, which corrects several deficiencies in existing quadratic shell elements. The improvements realized in the present element include rank sufficiency without transverse shear locking, consistent membrane strain interpolation that admits inextensional bending without reduced integration, and adequate representation of curvature effects to capture the important membrane-bending coupling. The element can be constructed either by a nine-point integration rule or by a four-point integration rule with the proper rank compensating terms. Numerical experiments with the present element on several benchmark problems indicate that the element yields accurate and reliable solutions without any ostensible deficiency. The element is recommended for production analysis of shell structures.