A hybrid stress ANS solid-shell element and its generalization for smart structure modelling. Part I - solid-shell element formulation

In the recent years, solid-shell finite element models which possess no rotational degrees of freedom and applicable to thin plate/shell analyses have attracted considerable attention. Development of these elements are not straightforward. Shear, membrane, trapezoidal, thickness and dilatational lockings must be envisioned. In this part of this paper, a novel eight-node solid-shell element is proposed. To resolve the shear and trapezoidal lockings, the assumed natural strain (ANS) method is resorted to. The hybrid-stress formulation is employed to rectify the thickness and dilatational locking. The element is computationally more efficient than the conventional hybrid elements by adopting orthogonal-assumed stress modes and enforcing admissible sparsity in the flexibility matrix. Popular benchmark tests are exercised to illustrate the efficacy of the elements. In Part II of the paper, the element will be generalized for smart structure modelling by including the piezoelectric effect. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.