• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.58-63
• /
• 2006

This paper describes a novel automated analysis system for bellows of piping system. An automatic finite element (FE) mesh generation technique, which is based on the fuzzy theory and computational geometry technique, is incorporated into the system, together with one of commercial FE analysis codes and one of commercial solid modelers. In this system, a geometric model, i.e. an analysis model, is first defined using a commercial solid modelers for 3-D shell structures. Node is generated if its distance from existing node points is similar to the node spacing function at the point. The node spacing function is well controlled by the fuzzy knowledge processing. The Delaunay triangulation technique is introduced as a basic tool for element generation. The triangular elements are converted to quadrilateral elements. Practical performances of the present system are demonstrated through several analysis for bellows of piping system.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.729-737
• /
• 2017

Piezoelectric composite laminates are a powerful material system that offers vast options to improve structural behavior. Successful design of piezoelectric adaptive structures and testing of control laws call for highly accurate, reliable and numerically efficient numerical tools. This paper puts focus onto linear and geometrically nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of smart structures made of such a material system. For this purpose, highly efficient linear 3-node and 4-node finite shell elements are proposed. Both elements employ the Mindlin-Reissner kinematics. The shear locking effect is treated by the discrete shear gap (DSG) technique with the 3-node element and by the assumed natural strain (ANS) approach with the 4-node element. Geometrically nonlinear effects are considered using the co-rotational approach. Static and dynamic examples involving actuator and sensor function of piezoelectric layers are considered.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 1991.10a
• /
• pp.133-138
• /
• 1991

The aim of the present paper is to develop a computer program predicting ultimate fracture strength of initially cracked structure under monotonically increasing external loads. For this purpose, two kinds of 3-D isoparametric solid elements, one 6-node wedge element and another 8-node brick element are formulated along the small deformation theory. Plasticity in the element is checked using von Mises' yield criterion. Elasto-plastic stiffness matrix of the element is calculated taking account of strain hardening effect. If the principal strain at crack tip which is one nodal point exceeds the critical strain dependin on the material property, crack tip is supposed to be opened and the crack tip node which was previously constrained in the direction perpendicular to the crack line is released. After that, the crack lay be propagated to the adjacent node. Once a crack tip node is fractured, the energy of the newly fractured node should be released which is to be absorbed by the remaining part. The accumulated reaction force which was carried by the newly fractured node so far is then applied in the opposite direction. During the action of crack tip relief force, since unloading may be occured in the plastic element, unloading check should be made. If a plastic element unloads, elastic stress-strain equation is used in the calculation of the stiffness matrix of the element, while for a loading element, elasto-plastic stress-strain equation is continuously used. Verification of the computer program is made comparing with the experimental results for center cracked panel subjected to uniform tensile load. Also some factors affecting ultimate fracture strength of initially cracked plate are investigated. It is concluded that the computer program developed here gives an accurate solution and becomes useful tool for predicting ultimate fracture load of initially cracked structural system under monotonically increasing external loads.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.711-725
• /
• 1998

Mixed finite element formulations for incompressible materials show pressure oscillations or pressure modes in four-node quadrilateral elements. The criterion for the stability in the pressure solution is the so-called Babu$\check{s}$ka-Brezzi stability condition, and the four-node elements based on mixed variational principles do not appear to satisfy this condition. In this study, a pressure continuity residual based on the pressure discontinuity at element edges proposed by Hughes and Franca is used to study the stabilization of pressure solutions in bilinear displacement-constant pressure four-node quadrilateral elements. Also, a solid mechanics problem is presented by which the stability of mixed elements can be studied. It is shown that the pressure solutions, although stable, are shown to exhibit sensitivity to the stabilization parameters.

• Computational Structural Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.87-97
• /
• 1995

For the same configuration of two-dimensional finite element models, 6-node element exhibits stiffer bending stiffness than 8-node element. This is true in the relation between 16-node element and 20-node element for three-dimensional model. This stiffening phenomenon comes from the elimination of several mid nodes from full-node elements. Therefore, this may be called 'relative stiffness stiffening phenomenon'. It seems that there are a couple of ways to correct the stiffening effect, however, we could find only one effective method-the method of modification of Gauss sampling points-which passes the patch test and does not alter other kinds of stiffness, such as extensional stiffness. The quantity of modification is a function of Poisson's ratios of the constituent materials. We could obtain two modification equations, one for plane stress case and the other for plane strain case. This method can be extended to 3-dimensional solid elements. Except the exact plane strain cases, most 3-dimensional plates could be modeled successfully with 16-node element modified by the equation for the plane stress case. The effectiveness of the modification method is checked by applying it to several examples with excellent improvements. In numerical examples, beams with various boundary conditions are subjected to static and time-dependent loads. Free and forced motion analyses of beams and plates are also tested. The beam and plate may be composed of isotropic multilayers as well as a single layer.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.29 no.6
• /
• pp.643-658
• /
• 2008

In this paper, we present a quadratic element model based on non-conforming displacement modes and modified shape functions. This new and refined 8-node hybrid stress plane element consists of two additional non-conforming modes that are added to the translational degree of freedom to improve the behavior of a membrane component. Further, the modification of the shape functions through quadratic polynomials in x-y coordinates enables retaining reasonable accuracy even when the element becomes considerably distorted. To establish its accuracy and efficiency, the element is compared with existing elements and - over a wide range of mesh distortions - it is demonstrated to be exceptionally accurate in predicting displacements and stresses.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.297-320
• /
• 2005

In recent years the pure displacement formulation for plate elements has not been as popular as other formulations. We revisit the pure displacement formulation for shear-deformable plate elements and propose a family of N-node, displacement-compatible, fully-integrated, pure-displacement, triangular, Mindlin plate elements, MIN-N. The development has been motivated by the relative simplicity of the pure displacement formulation and by the success of the existing 3-node plate element, MIN3. The formulation of MIN3 is generalized to obtain the MIN-N family, which possesses complete, fully compatible kinematic fields, in which the interpolation functions for transverse displacement are one degree higher than those for rotations. General element-level formulas for the thin-limit Kirchhoff constraints are developed. The 6-node, 18 degree-of-freedom element MIN6, with cubic displacement and quadratic rotations, is implemented and tested extensively. Numerical results show that MIN6 exhibits good performance for both static and dynamic analyses in the linear, elastic regime. The results illustrate that the fully-integrated MIN6 element has excellent performance in the thin limit, even for coarse meshes, and that it does not require shear relaxation.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1987.07b
• /
• pp.1288-1291
• /
• 1987

An finite element code has been developed to calculate current flowing through an 8-node trilinear cubic element from the calculated potentials on the eight node. This code was implemented to the three-dimensional thoracic model for impedance cardiography to find the total currents in the z-direction flowing through the layers which are parallel to x-y plane. The accuracy of the total current was estimated from its variation among the layers. It was found that the accuracy of the total currents in the layers was less than 0.6%.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.37-52
• /
• 2012

In this study, a new 4-node general shell element with 6 DOFs per node is presented. Drilling rotational degrees of freedom are introduced by the variational principle with an independent rotation field. In formulation of the element, substitute transverse shear strain fields are used to avoid shear locking, while four nonconforming modes are applied in the in-plane displacement fields as a remedy for membrane locking. In addition, a direct modification method for nonconforming modes is employed in the numerical implementation of nonconforming modes to represent constant strain states. A 9-points integration rule is adopted for volume integration in the computation of the element stiffness matrix. With the combined use of these techniques, the developed shell element has no spurious zero energy modes, and can represent a constant strain state. Several numerical tests are carried out to evaluate the performance of the new element developed. The test results show that the behavior of the elements is satisfactory.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.6 no.8
• /
• pp.921-937
• /
• 1998

A new four-node degenerated shell element with drilling degrees of freedom (DOF) is proposed. Allman-type displacement approximation is incorporated into the formulation of degenerated shell elements. The approximation improves in-plane performance and eliminates singularities of system matrices resulted from DOF deficiency. Transverse shear locking is circumvented by introducing assumed covariant shear strains. Two kinds of penalty energy are considered in the formulation for the purpose of suppressing spurious modes and representing true drilling rotations. The proposed element can be applied to almost all kinds of shell problems including composite laminated shell structures and folded shell structures. Numerical examples show that the element is of good accuracy and of reasonably fast convergence rate.