In this work, a new locking-free and physically stabilized formulation of the SHB8PS solid-shell element is presented. The resulting finite element consists of a continuum mechanics shell element based on a purely three-dimensional approach. This eight-node hexahedron is integrated with a set of five Gauss points, all distributed along the “thickness” direction. Consequently, it can be used for the modeling of thin structures, while providing an accurate description of various through-thickness phenomena. The reduced integration has been used in order to prevent some locking phenomena and to increase its computational efficiency. The spurious zero-energy deformation modes due to the reduced integration are efficiently stabilized, whereas the strain components corresponding to locking modes are eliminated with a projection technique following the Enhanced Assumed Strain (EAS) method.Contrat EDF R&

ABED-MERAIM, Farid

COMBESCURE, Alain

English

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Farid ABED-MERAIM, Alain COMBESCURE - Locking-free formulation for the stabilized
enhanced strain solid-shell element (SHB8PS): geometrically non-linear applications - 2008
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Science Arts & Métiers (SAM)
is an open access repository that collects the work of Arts et Métiers ParisTech
researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible.
This is an author-deposited version published in: http://sam.ensam.eu
Handle ID: .http://hdl.handle.net/null
To cite this version :
Farid ABED-MERAIM, Alain COMBESCURE - Locking-free formulation for the stabilized
enhanced strain solid-shell element (SHB8PS): geometrically non-linear applications - 2008
Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the repository
Administrator : archiveouverte@ensam.eu
Locking-free formulation for the stabilized enhanced strain solid-
shell element (SHB8PS): geometrically non-linear applications 
Farid ABED-MERAIM*, Alain COMBESCURE 
*LPMM UMR CNRS 7554, ENSAM CER de Metz
4 rue Augustin Fresnel, 57078 Metz, France 
farid.abed-meraim@metz.ensam.fr
Abstract 
In this work, a new locking-free and physically stabilized formulation of the SHB8PS solid-shell element is 
presented. The resulting finite element consists of a continuum mechanics shell element based on a purely three-
dimensional approach. This eight-node hexahedron is integrated with a set of five Gauss points, all distributed 
along the “thickness” direction. Consequently, it can be used for the modeling of thin structures, while 
providing an accurate description of various through-thickness phenomena. The reduced integration has been 
used in order to prevent some locking phenomena and to increase its computational efficiency. The spurious 
zero-energy deformation modes due to the reduced integration are efficiently stabilized, whereas the strain 
components corresponding to locking modes are eliminated with a projection technique following the Enhanced 
Assumed Strain (EAS) method. 
1. Introduction
Over the last decade, considerable progress has been made in the development of three-dimensional finite 
elements capable of modeling thin structures [1], [3-5], [7]. The coupling between solid and shell formulations 
has proven to be an interesting way to provide continuum finite element models that can be efficiently used for 
structural applications. These solid-shell elements have numerous advantages for the analysis of various 
complex structural geometries that are common in many industrial applications. Their main advantage is to 
allow such complex structural shapes to be meshed without classical problems of connecting zones meshed with 
different element types (continuum and structural elements for instance). Another important benefit of the solid-
shell concept is the avoidance of tedious and complex pure-shell element formulations needed for the complex 
treatment of large rotations. 
In this work, a new locking-free formulation for the SHB8PS solid-shell element is performed. Note that the 
SHB8PS element was first implemented into the dynamic explicit finite element code (Europlexus) for impact 
problem simulations (Abed-Meraim and Combescure [1]). Later, an implicit version was implemented into the 
quasi-static implicit code (Inca) for stability analysis of shells (Legay and Combescure [4]). This element is an 
eight-node, three-dimensional hexahedron with a preferential direction called “the thickness”. Therefore, it can 
be used to represent thin structures while providing an accurate description of various through-thickness 
phenomena thanks to the use of a numerical integration with five Gauss points in that direction. As a result, the 
element is under-integrated and requires a stabilization procedure to control the associated hourglass modes. 
The stabilization technique used is based on the Assumed Strain Method (Belytschko and Bindeman [2]). 
More specifically, this work focuses on the elimination of the residual membrane and shear locking persisting in 
the previous formulations. By using orthogonal projections of the discrete gradient operator, these severe shear 
and membrane locking modes are removed. Several numerical experiments on popular linear and non-linear 
benchmark problems show that this new formulation of the SHB8PS element is effective under non-linear 
conditions and demonstrates good convergence without locking phenomena. 
2. Formulation of the SHB8PS element
The element coordinates ix  and displacements  are interpolated using the isoparametric trilinear 
shape functions . By introducing the Hallquist vectors (
( 1, ..., 3)i iu =
( ), , ( 1, ..., 8) I IN ξ η ζ = ib , i = 1,..., 3), defined as: 
, (0, 0, 0)       1, 2,3        '  
T
i ib N i Hallquist s Form= =  (1)
where , / iiN N x∂ ∂= , one can show that the discrete gradient operator, which relates the linear deformations to
the nodal displacements (i.e., ( )S u B d∇ = ⋅ ), is given by equation (3) below. This B -matrix makes use of the 
following variables: 
1,3
1 2 3 4
1
8 ( )
,  ,  ,  
T
j jj
h x bh
h h h h
α α αγ
ηζ ζξ ξη ξηζ
= ⋅= −
= = = =
⎧ ⎡ ⎤⎪ ⎣ ⎦⎨⎪⎩
∑
;   
1 2 3, 8 1 2 3 8
1 2
3 4
( , , ....., ),     ( , , , ....., )   
(1,1, 1, 1, 1, 1,1,1),   (1, 1, 1,1, 1,1,1, 1)
(1, 1,1, 1,1, 1,1, 1),   ( 1,1, 1,1,1, 1,1, 1)
T T
i i i i i i i i i i
T T
T T
d u u u u x x x x x
h h
h h
= =
= − − − − = − − − −
= − − − − = − − − −
⎧⎪⎨⎪⎩
(2) 
( )
,
,
,
, ,
, ,
, ,
 
The convention of implied summation
  of repeated subscripts is adopted
0 0
0 0
0 0
0
0
0
T T
x x
T T
y y
T T
z z
T T T T
y y x x
T T T T
z z y y
T T T T
z z x x
b h
b h
b h
B
b h b h
b h b h
b h b h
α α
α α
α α
α α α α
α α α α
α α α α
α
γ
γ
γ
γ γ
γ γ
γ γ
=
+
+
+
+ +
+ +
+ +
⎡ ⎤⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎣ ⎦
(3) 
Despite the geometry of the element (eight-node hexahedron), several modifications are introduced in order to 
provide it with shell features. Among them, a shell-like behavior is intended for the element, by modifying the 
three-dimensional elastic constitutive law so that the plane-stress conditions are approached and by aligning all 
the integration points along a privileged direction, called the thickness. The stiffness matrix is then obtained by 
Gauss integration: 
5
1
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 
e
TT
e I I
I
K B C B v J B C Bd I Iω ζ ζ ζ ζ
=Ω
= ⋅ ⋅ = ⋅ ⋅∑∫ (4)
Because the ,ihα  functions  vanish at the five Gauss points, of coordinates 
 the 
3, 4;  1, 2, 3( iα = = )
0,  0,I I Iξ η ζ= = ≠ B -matrix in equation (3) reduces to its 12B  part, with only the ,ihα  terms 
. This leads to six hourglass modes generated by 1, 2;  1, 2, 3( iα = = )  3 4and h h . These spurious modes are 
stabilized following the approach given in Belytschko and Bindeman [2]. Moreover, we apply an assumed strain 
method in order to eliminate locking. The B -matrix is thus projected onto B  as: 
12 34B B B= + (5)
Consequently, the stiffness matrix, equation (4), can be rewritten as: 
12eK K K= + STAB (6)
The first term 12K  is obtained by Gauss integration, equation (4). The second term STABK  represents the 
stabilization stiffness: 
12 34 34 12 34 34
e e e
T T T
STABK B C B dv B C B dv B C B dv
Ω Ω Ω
+ += ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅∫ ∫ ∫ (7) 
3. Numerical results and discussions
The performance of this new formulation has been tested through a variety of linear and non linear mechanical 
problems. In all of these tests, the new version showed better performance than the previous formulation. In 
particular, the improvement is significant in the pinched hemispherical shell test. 
3.1  Pinched hemispherical shell problem 
This test has become very popular and it is used by many authors. It is severe since the shear and membrane 
locking phenomena are very important and emphasized by the problem geometry (distorted, skewed elements). 
As reported by many authors, in this doubly-curved shell problem, the membrane locking is much more severe 
than shear locking. Figure 1 shows the geometry, loading and boundary conditions for this problem. 
Figure 1: Geometry and loading of the pinched hemispherical shell problem 
The radius is R=10, the thickness t=0.04, Young’s modulus E=6.825×107 and Poisson’s ratio ν =0.3. Using the 
symmetry, only a quarter of the hemisphere is meshed using a single element through the thickness and with 
two unit loads along directions Ox and Oy. The reference solution for the radial displacement at the load point is 
0.0924. The convergence results are reported in Table 1 in terms of the normalized displacement at the load 
point. The new version of the SHB8PS element is compared with the former one and with the three elements 
HEX8, HEXDS and H8-ct-cp. The HEX8 element is the standard, eight-node, full integration solid element 
(eight Gauss points). The HEXDS element is an eight-node, four-point quadrature solid element (Liu et al. [6]). 
The H8-ct-cp element was developed by Lemosse [5]. Table 1 shows that the new version of the SHB8PS 
element provides an excellent convergence rate and shows no locking. 
SHB8PS 
previous 
version 
HEX8 HEXDS H8-ct-cp 
SHB8PS 
new 
version Number of Ux/Uref Ux/Uref Ux/Uref Ux/Uref Ux/Uref 
12 0.0629 0.0005  0.05 0.8645
27 0.0474 0.0011  1.0155
48 0.1660 0.0023 0.408 0.35 1.0098
75  0.2252 0.0030 0.512 0.58 1.0096 
192  0.6332 0.0076 0.701 0.95 1.0008 
363  0.8592 0.0140 0.800 1.0006 
768 0.9651 0.0287  1.0006
1462  0.9910 0.0520 1.0009 
Table 1: Normalized displacement at the load point of the pinched hemispherical shell 
3.2  Pinched cylinder with end diaphragms 
A cylindrical shell loaded by a pair of concentrated vertical forces at its middle section is considered here. Both 
ends of the cylinder are covered with rigid diaphragms that allow displacement only in the axial direction 
(Figure 2). This test is considered as a selective test problem since it has been shown that shear locking is more 
severe than membrane locking. The length is L=600, the radius R=300, the thickness t=3, Young’s modulus 
E=3×106, Poisson’s ratio ν =0.3 and the applied load P=1. Owing to symmetry, only one eighth of the cylinder 
is modeled using a single element through the thickness and 2×2, 4×4, 8×8, 16×16 and 32×32 meshes: Figure 2. 
Figure 2: Geometry, boundary conditions and loading for the pinched cylinder 
The displacement at the loaded point in the loading direction is normalized with respect to the reference solution 
of 0.18248×10-4 and reported in Table 2 below. 
SHB8PS 
previous version 
SHB8PS 
new version 
Mesh layout Uz/Uref Uz/Uref
2x2 0.043 0.101
4x4 0.223 0.387
8x8 0.708 0.754
16x16 0.937 0.940
32x32 0.996 0.997
Table 2: Normalized displacements at the loaded point of the pinched cylinder 
As we can see in Table 2, the new version of the SHB8PS element performs better than the former one, 
especially for coarse meshes. This new version has also been tested on a variety of non linear, elastic and 
elastic-plastic problems. We demonstrate that the projection adopted in this formulation better eliminates the 
locking phenomena. As shown particularly in the pinched hemisphere test problem, Table 1, this element also 
exhibits excellent efficiency and convergence through numerous other tests. 
References 
[1] Abed-Meraim F and Combescure A. SHB8PS a new adaptive, assumed-strain continuum mechanics shell 
element for impact analysis. Computers & Structures 2002; 80:791-803. 
[2] Belytschko T and Bindeman LP. Assumed strain stabilization of the eight node hexahedral element. 
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 1993; 105:225-260. 
[3] Hauptmann R and Schweizerhof K. A systematic development of solid-shell element formulations for 
linear and non-linear analyses employing only displacement degrees of freedom. International Journal for 
Numerical Methods and Engineering 1998; 42:49-69. 
[4] Legay A and Combescure A. Elastoplastic stability analysis of shells using the physically stabilized finite 
element SHB8PS. International Journal for Numerical Methods and Engineering 2003; 57:1299-1322. 
[5] Lemosse D. Eléments finis iso-paramétriques tridimensionnels pour l’étude des structures minces. PhD 
Thesis, Ecole Doctorale SPMI/INSA-Rouen, 2000. 
[6] Liu WK, Guo Y, Tang S and Belytschko T. A multiple-quadrature eight-node hexahedral finite element 
for large deformation elastoplastic analysis. Comp. Meth. in Applied Mech. and Engng. 1998; 154:69-132. 
[7] Wall WA, Bischoff M and Ramm E. A deformation dependent stabilization technique, exemplified by 
EAS elements at large strains. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engng. 2000; 188:859-871. 


Locking-free formulation for the stabilized enhanced strain solid-shell element (SHB8PS): geometrically non-linear applications

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Locking-free formulation for the stabilized enhanced strain solid-shell element (SHB8PS): geometrically non-linear applications

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