A triangular inverse element coupling mixed interpolation of tensorial components technique for shape sensing of plate structure

Abstract

This novel inverse element, named as iMITC3+, is proposed by coupling the inverse finite element method (iFEM) and mixed interpolation of tensorial components (MITC) technology for real-time reconstructing the structural deformation based on discrete strain measurement. This reconstructed method is established through combining the kinematics of enhanced 3-node triangular MITC element and least-squares variational function. Furthermore, the approach containing the cubic bubble function inside the element is less sensitive to deformation under bending-dominated and thus alleviates the shear locking for shape sensing of thin plate structure. In addition, the method is suitable for geometrically arbitrarily plate structures, due to that the rotation degree of freedom of the element is represented by the nodal director vector. The high accuracy and practicability of iMITC3+ has been verified by numerical and experimental results through analyses of plate model subjected to different loading.