Significance of mesh-fineness in accuracy of finite element analysis of hyperbolic cooling tower shells

Abstract

Increased dependence on finite element modelling of structures in practice has made awareness of error potential of these analyses essential. This concern is even more pertinent in case of shell structures, since finite element analysis results of these structures is more error-prone. In reported research, the effect of mesh-fineness of finite element models on accuracy of finite element analysis solutions is investigated for hyperbolic cooling tower shells. The sensitivity of the errors to geometry of the shell is also examined. Elastic material model and static gravity loading is used. The study findings indicate that under symmetric state of stress, inadequate mesh-fineness may cause significant error in the shell force estimate from finite element analysis. The accuracy of longitudinal shell force estimate is fairly insensitive to the geometry of the shell. However, even small changes in the shape may drastically affect the accuracy of meridional shell force estimates.