A high‐order shell finite element for the large deformation analysis of soft material structures

This work proposes a higher-order unified shell finite element for the analysis of cylinders made of compressible and nearly incompressible hyperelastic materials. The nonlinear governing equations are derived employing the Carrera unified formulation (CUF), thanks to which it is possible to build shell elements with the capability to capture three-dimensional (3D) transverse and out-of-plane effects. The material and geometric nonlinearities are expressed in an orthogonal curvilinear reference system and the coupled formulation of hyperelastic constitutive law is considered. The principle of virtual work and a total Lagrangian approach is used to derive the nonlinear governing equations, which are solved by a Newton-Raphson scheme. The numerical investigations deal with a curved arch and both thick and thin cylinders subjected to line and point loadings. The obtained results are validated by comparing them with those from the literature. They demonstrate the reliability of the proposed method to analyze compressible and incompressible hyperelastic shell structures

Large deflection and post-buckling of thin-walled structures by finite elements with node-dependent kinematics

In the framework of finite elements (FEs) applications, this paper proposes the use of the node-dependent kinematics (NDK) concept to the large deflection and post-buckling analysis of thin-walled metallic one-dimensional (1D) structures. Thin-walled structures could easily exhibit local phenomena which would require refinement of the kinematics in parts of them. This fact is particularly true whenever these thin structures undergo large deflection and post-buckling. FEs with kinematics uniform in each node could prove inappropriate or computationally expensive to solve these locally dependent deformations. The concept of NDK allows kinematics to be independent in each element node; therefore, the theory of structures changes continuously over the structural domain. NDK has been successfully applied to solve linear problems by the authors in previous works. It is herein extended to analyze in a computationally efficient manner nonlinear problems of beam-like structures. The unified 1D FE model in the framework of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) is referred to. CUF allows introducing, at the node level, any theory/kinematics for the evaluation of the cross-sectional deformations of the thin-walled beam. A total Lagrangian formulation along with full Green–Lagrange strains and 2nd Piola Kirchhoff stresses are used. The resulting geometrical nonlinear equations are solved with the Newton–Raphson linearization and the arc-length type constraint. Thin-walled metallic structures are analyzed, with symmetric and asymmetric C-sections, subjected to transverse and compression loadings. Results show how FE models with NDK behave as well as their convenience with respect to the classical FE analysis with the same kinematics for the whole nodes. In particular, zones which undergo remarkable deformations demand high-order theories of structures, whereas a lower-order theory can be employed if no local phenomena occur: this is easily accomplished by NDK analysis. Remarkable advantages are shown in the analysis of thin-walled structures with transverse stiffeners

On the role of large cross-sectional deformations in the nonlinear analysis of composite thin-walled structures

The geometrical nonlinear effects caused by large displacements and rotations over the cross section of composite thin-walled structures are investigated in this work. The geometrical nonlinear equations are solved within the finite element method framework, adopting the Newton–Raphson scheme and an arc-length method. Inherently, to investigate cross-sectional nonlinear kinematics, low- to higher-order theories are employed by using the Carrera unified formulation, which provides a tool to generate refined theories of structures in a systematic manner. In particular, beams and shell-like laminated composite structures are analyzed using a layerwise approach, according to which each layer has its own independent kinematics. Different stacking sequences are analyzed, to highlight the influence of the cross-ply angle on the static responses. The results show that the geometrical nonlinear effects play a crucial role, mainly when higher-order theories are utilized