A basic study of the accuracy estimation of the finite element method. 3rd Report. Analyses of the in-plane stress and transverse bending moment of thin curved plates.

Abstract

As a basic study for the establishment of an accuracy estimation method in the finite element method, this report deals with the problems of accuracy estimation in the analyses of in-plane stress and transverse bending of thin, curved plates. From numerical experiments for uniform mesh divisions, the following relation was deduced, ε∝(h/a)k, k≥1, where ε is the error of the value by the finite element method relative to the exact value and h/a is the dimensionless mesh diameter. From this relation, an accuracy estimation method, which was based on the recursive simulation method, was presented. A computer program using this accuracy estimation method was developed and applied to eight problems of various shapes. The usefulness of this accuracy estimation method was illustrated by these application results.