IsoGeometric Analysis with non-conforming multi-patches for the hull structural mechanical analysis

Abstract

IsoGeometric Analysis (IGA) has been applied in hull structural analysis and proved to be efficient and accurate. Nevertheless, the advantages of IGA have not been fully utilized. In this paper, IGA technics for hull structural analysis are further developed. A 3 Degrees-Of-Freedoms C1-continuous Kirchhoff–Love shell element is used to analyze hull structures, and the weighted non-symmetric Nitsche’s method is used to couple connected patches. With the proposed shell elements and coupling method, the modeling of hull structures for IGA is greatly simplified. A typical hull block structure with complex interfaces is used to verify the correctness and accuracy of non-conforming multi-patch IGA. The commercial software ANSYS 17.0 is used to obtain reliable reference solutions. An extreme non-conforming IGA model with 231 non-conforming interfaces is adopted to test the robustness of IGA. When using the weighted non-symmetric Nitsche’s method, the maximum relative error of displacements is 1.7%, and the maximum relative error of von Mises stresses is 1.0%, which is acceptable in engineering. The correctness and robustness of non-conforming multi-patch IGA for the hull structural analysis are verified. The engineering practicability of IGA is proved.