Solid structure analysis with large deformation of eight-node hexahedral element using vector form intrinsic finite element

Abstract

The vector form intrinsic finite element method has been proposed to deal with large deformation and complex non-linear problems in structural analysis. However, the study of method is mainly limited in plane element. This article expands the application range of the vector form intrinsic finite element method by deriving the formula of eight-node hexahedral element. A new method to determine pure nodal deformation was proposed and described in detail, which could simplify the computation comparing to the traditional vector form intrinsic finite element method. Compared with the finite element method and other methods in three different numerical examples, the numerical results of this method show a good reliability and accuracy in large deformation problems. This method lays the foundation for solving three-dimensional solid problems by vector form intrinsic finite element method in structural engineering fields.