Analysis and Application About Connection Stiffness between Elements with Different DOF's in FE Simulation

Abstract

Due to the discontinuities of rotation, degrees of freedom (DOF) between solid and shell elements cannot be connected well at the connection points. Based on the finite element analysis (FEA), the method of the constraint equation co-modeling was proposed and used during the modeling. First, according to the theory of finite element (FE), the stiffness compatibility equation between the connection points of a shell element and a solid element were derived. Then, the FE examples were calculated and the results were compared. Finally, the method of this modeling was used in a metro car simulation. Theory analysis and simulation results show that the compatibility of DOF between the elements has a great impact on results during the simulation. Using the constraint equation to make transitions between shell elements and solid elements can effectively eliminate the problem of compatibility of DOF, and thus achieve more realistic simulation results.