Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1995

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

A simple and efficient three-node degenerated shell element with fully explicit form of stiffness is proposed. The drilling degree of freedom and quadratic membrane strain field are incorporated using Allman's concept. The k coefficient is introduced to provide variable degree of coupling between the drilling rotation and the mid-surface rotation. The desirable displacement field concept is employed to locate optimal sampling points for the locking-free assumed transverse shear strain fields. The element stiffness is carried out explicitly to reduce the computational time consumption. Numerical results of various benchmark examples indicate that the proposed shell element is sufficiently competitive. The explicit form of stiffness allows the element to be incorporated with convenience in any finite element package.