Coupling of finite element and meshfree methods for locking-free analysis of shear-deformable beams and plates

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to develop a computational technique to couple finite element and meshfree methods for locking-free analysis of shear deformable beams and plates, and to impose the boundary conditions directly when the matching field approach is adopted in the meshfree region. Design/methodology/approach - Matching field approach eliminates shear-locking which may occur due to inconsistencies in the approximations of the transverse displacement and rotation fields in shear-deformable beams and plates. Continuous blending method is modified in order to be able to satisfy the constraint conditions of the matching field strategy. Findings - For both transverse displacement and rotation fields, the developed technique produces approximation functions that satisfy the Kronecker delta property at the required nodes of the meshfree region when the matching field approach is adopted. Originality/value - This approach allows for direct assembly of the stiffness matrices that are built for separate finite element and meshfree regions when the matching field approach is adopted. The boundary conditions can be directly applied, and the reaction forces can also be calculated directly from the structural stiffness matrix by using the developed technique.