MITC4 Shell Element Research Articles

A four-node inverse curved shell element coupling MITC method for deformation reconstruction of plate and shell structures

In the field of structural deformation monitoring, the inverse finite element method (iFEM) has significant engineering value as a structural health monitoring technique that provides timely and reliable warnings for shell structures. However, existing inverse finite elements are mainly based on first-order shear deformation theory and kirchhoff-love theory, which are not suitable for deformation reconstruction in plate and shell structures of arbitrary thickness. This study integrates iFEM with the Mixed Interpolation of Tensorial Components (MITC) method to develop a novel four-node quadrilateral inverse curved shell element, named iMICS(inverse Mixed Interpolation Curved Shell)4, aimed at enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of deformation reconstruction in complex plate and shell structures. The method uses the MITC4 shell element as the kinematic framework and applies the least squares variational principle to achieve deformation reconstruction, effectively alleviating shear and membrane locking issues across structures of varying thickness. Numerical examples validate the superior performance of the iMICS4 element, demonstrating its promising application prospects.

Mixed MITC and interface shell element formulation for multi-part viscoelastic shell structures

This study presents a novel approach for constitutive modeling of multi-part viscoelastic shell structures using a combination formulation of mixed MITC (MITC3 and MITC4) and interface shell elements with reduced computational cost. It focuses on accurate viscoelastic analysis, considering the time-dependent behavior of the multi-part shell structures. The use of the Laplace transform simplifies the integral-form constitutive equation, enabling efficient and accurate viscoelastic analysis. Moreover, by combining the advantages of MITC shell elements and interface shell elements, this approach comprehensively represents multi-part shell structures with non-matching interfaces. Hence, it allows the meshing of each component part independently when assembled. Furthermore, these methods also provide better resistance to shear and membrane locking, which can be problematic when modeling thin shell structures. In numerical examples, to validate the accuracy of the current study, we meticulously analyze multi-part shell models such as an elastic U-shaped beam and the viscoelastic propeller subjected to creep bending loads. This research contributes to improving the design and performance of shell structures in various engineering fields.

The simplified MITC4+ shell element and its performance in linear and nonlinear analysis

The recently developed improved MITC4+ shell element exhibits excellent convergence behavior in both bending- and membrane-dominated shell problems. Compared to the widely recognized MITC4 shell element, the membrane and in-plane shear locking were significantly alleviated. However, it is difficult to implement the assumed membrane strain field because of its complexity. In this study, a simplified MITC4+ shell element is developed. A simpler assumed membrane strain field that facilitates the extension to nonlinear formulations is proposed. To reduce the sensitivity of the element performance to mesh distortion, a geometry-dependent Gauss integration scheme is employed. The proposed element passes the patch, zero-energy mode, and isotropy tests. The performance of the simplified MITC4+ shell element is demonstrated using various linear and nonlinear benchmark problems.

Avoiding membrane locking with Regge interpolation

In this paper we present a method to overcome membrane locking of thin shells. An interpolation operator into the so-called Regge finite element space is inserted in the membrane energy term to weaken the implicitly given kernel constraints. The number of constraints is decreased on triangular meshes compared to reduced integration techniques, in the lowest order case asymptotically by a factor two. A tying point procedure to accomplish the interpolation is presented revealing a strong connection to MITC shell elements. Provided the interpolant, this approach can be incorporated easily into existing shell elements. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by means of several benchmark examples.

A quadrilateral shell element incorporating thickness‐stretch for nearly incompressible hyperelasticity

SummaryThe authors proposed a quadrilateral shell element enriched with degrees of freedom to represent thickness‐stretch. The quadrilateral shell element can be utilized to consider large deformations for nearly incompressible materials, and its performance is demonstrated in small and large deformation analyses of hyperelastic materials in this study. Formulation of the proposed shell element is based on extension of the MITC4 shell element. A displacement variation in the thickness direction is introduced to evaluate the change in thickness. In the proposed approach, the thickness direction is defined using the director vectors at each midsurface node. The thickness‐stretch is approximated by the movements of additional nodes, which are placed along the thickness direction from the bottom to the top surface. The transverse normal strain is calculated using these additional nodes without assuming the plane stress condition; hence, a three‐dimensional constitutive equation can be employed without any modification. In this work, the authors apply an assumed strain technique to the special shell element to alleviate volumetric locking for nearly incompressible materials. Several numerical examples are presented to examine the effectiveness of the proposed element.

Numerical procedure to couple shell to solid elements by using Nitsche’s method

This paper presents a numerical procedure to couple shell to solid elements by using the Nitsche’s method. The continuity of displacements can be satisfied approximately with the penalty method, which is effective in setting the penalty parameter to a sufficiently large value. When the continuity of only displacements on the interface is applied between shell and solid elements, an unreasonable deformation may be observed near the interface. In this work, the continuity of the stress vector on the interface is considered by employing the Nitsche’s method, and hence a reasonable deformation can be obtained on the interface. The authors propose two types of shell elements coupled with solid elements in this paper. One of them is the conventional MITC4 shell element, which is one of the most popular elements in engineering applications. This approach shows the capability of discretizing the domain of the structure with the different types of elements. The other is the shell element with additional degrees of freedom to represent thickness–stretch developed by the authors. In this approach, the continuity of displacements including the deformation in the thickness direction on the interface can be considered. Several numerical examples are presented to examine the fundamental performance of the proposed procedure. The behavior of the proposed simulation model is compared with that of the whole domain discretized with only solid elements.

Benchmark tests of MITC triangular shell elements

In this paper, we compare and assess the performance of the standard 3- and 6-node MITC shell elements (Lee and Bathe 2004) with the recently developed MITC triangular elements (Lee et al. 2014, Jeon et al. 2014, Jun et al. 2018) which were based on the partitions of unity approximation, bubble node, or both. The convergence behavior of the shell elements are measured in well-known benchmark tests; four plane stress tests (mesh distortion test, cantilever beam, Cook\'s skew beam, and MacNeal beam), two plate tests (Morley\'s skew plate and circular plate), and six shell tests (curved beam, twisted beam, pinched cylinder, hemispherical shells with or without hole, and Scordelis-Lo roof). To precisely compare and evaluate the solution accuracy of the shell elements, different triangular mesh patterns and distorted element mesh are adopted in the benchmark problems. All shell finite elements considered pass the basic tests; namely, the isotropy, the patch, and the zero energy mode tests.

Performance of the MITC3+ and MITC4+ shell elements in widely-used benchmark problems

Recently, new 3-node and 4-node MITC shell elements, the MITC3+ and MITC4+ elements, have been proposed. The two shell elements were tested through theoretically well-established convergence studies. In this paper we continue to investigate the performance of the MITC3+ and MITC4+ shell elements in relatively simple but widely adopted benchmark problems. To perform these tests as usually done, the predictive capability of the elements is assessed through point-wise convergence of displacements at specific locations of shell structures. The results obtained using the MITC3+ and MITC4+ shell elements are compared with those found for some other shell elements.

A new MITC4+ shell element

We presented in Ko et al. (2016) an MITC4+ shell element that shows a much improved convergence behavior when compared to the widely used MITC4 (Dvorkin and Bathe, 1984) shell element. However, the element does still not show optimal convergence behavior when used in distorted meshes in the analysis of some shell problems. In the present paper, we establish a new MITC4+ shell element which shows significantly improved and indeed an almost optimal convergence behavior. In this new continuum mechanics-based shell element, the shear locking is alleviated using the well-known assumed transverse shear strain field of the original MITC4 shell element and the membrane locking is alleviated using a new assumed membrane strain field. The new MITC4+ shell element passes all basic tests: the isotropy, zero energy mode and patch tests. The excellent performance of the shell element is demonstrated through convergence studies in the solution of well-selected behavior-encompassing shell benchmark problems.

A quadrilateral shell element with degree of freedom to represent thickness–stretch

This paper presents a quadrilateral shell element incorporating thickness---stretch, and demonstrates its performance in small and large deformation analyses for hyperelastic material and elastoplastic models. In terms of geometry, the proposed shell element is based on the formulation of the MITC4 shell element, with additional degrees of freedom to represent thickness---stretch. To consider the change in thickness, we introduce a displacement variation to the MITC4 shell element, in the thickness direction. After the thickness direction is expressed in terms of the director vectors that are defined at each midsurface node, additional nodes are placed along the thickness direction from the bottom surface to the top surface. The thickness---stretch is described by the movement of these additional nodes. The additional degrees of freedom are used to compute the transverse normal strain without assuming the plane stress condition. Hence, the three dimensional constitutive equation can be employed in the proposed formulation without any modification. By virtue of not imposing the plane stress condition, the surface traction is evaluated at the surface where the traction is applied, whereas it is assessed at the midsurface for conventional shell elements. Several numerical examples are presented to examine the fundamental performance of the proposed shell element. In particular, the proposed approach is capable of evaluating the change in thickness and the stress distribution when the effect of the surface traction is included. The behavior of the proposed shell element is compared with that of solid elements.

The MITC4+ shell element and its performance

The objective in this paper is to improve the performance of the 4-node MITC quadrilateral shell finite element, referred to as the MITC4 element (Dvorkin and Bathe, 1984). We propose a new MITC4 shell element, the MITC4+ element, in which the mid-surface membrane strain components are assumed using the concept of the MITC method. The tying membrane strains are obtained from four triangular domains which subdivide the mid-surface of the 4-node quadrilateral shell element. This approach alleviates locking that can happen when the MITC4 shell elements are geometrically distorted in curved geometries. Several basic tests including the isotropy, zero energy mode, and patch tests are performed. Through the solution of various shell problems, the convergence behavior of the MITC4+ shell element is studied to show the improvements reached.

Finite element modeling of concentric-tube continuum robots

Concentric-tube continuum robots have formed an active field of research in robotics because of their manipulative exquisiteness essential to facilitate delicate surgical procedures. A set of concentric tubes with designed initial curvatures comprises a robot whose workspace can be controlled by relative translations and rotations of the tubes. Kinematic models have been widely used to predict the movement of the robot, but they are incapable of describing its time-dependent hysteretic behaviors accurately particularly when snapping occurs. To overcome this limitation, here we present a finite element modeling approach to investigating the dynamics of concentric-tube continuum robots. In our model, each tube is discretized using MITC shell elements and its transient responses are computed implicitly using the Bathe time integration method. Inter-tube contacts, the key actuation mechanism of this robot, are modeled using the constraint function method with contact damping to capture the hysteresis in robot trajectories. Performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by analyzing three specifications of two-tube robots including the one exhibiting snapping phenomena while the method can be applied to multiple-tube robots as well.

3D-shell elements for structures in large strains

We present in this paper MITC shell elements for large strain solutions of shell structures. While we focus on the 4-node element, the same formulation is also applicable to the 3-node element. Since the elements are formulated using three-dimensional continuum theory with the full three-dimensional constitutive behavior, they are referred to as 3D-shell elements. Specific contributions in this paper are that the elements are formulated using two control vectors at each node to describe the large deformations, MITC tying and volume preserving conditions acting directly on the material fiber vectors to avoid shear locking, and a pressure interpolation to circumvent volumetric locking. Also, we present solutions to some large strain shell problems that represent valuable benchmark tests for any large strain shell analysis capability.

Wrinkle development analysis in thin sail-like structures using MITC shell finite elements

We propose a method of modelling sail type structures which captures the wrinkling behaviour of such structures. The method is validated through experimental and analytical test cases, particularly in terms of wrinkling prediction. An enhanced wrinkling index is proposed as a valuable measure characterizing the global wrinkling development on the deformed structure. The method is based on a pseudo-dynamic finite element procedure involving non-linear MITC shell elements. The major advantage compared to membrane models generally used for this type of analysis is that no ad hoc wrinkling model is required to control the stability of the structure. We demonstrate our approach to analyse the behaviour of various structures with spherical and cylindrical shapes, characteristic of downwind sails over a rather wide range of shape and constitutive parameters. In all cases convergence is reached and the overall flying shape is most adequately represented, which shows that our approach is a most valuable alternative to standard techniques to provide deeper insight into the physical behaviour. Limitations appear only in some very special instances in which local wrinkling-related instabilities are extremely high and would require specific additional treatments, out of the scope of the present study.

The quadratic MITC plate and MITC shell elements in plate bending

The analysis of plates can be achieved using the quadratic MITC plate or MITC shell elements. The plate elements have a strong mathematical basis and have been shown to be optimal in their convergence behavior, theoretically and numerically. The shell elements have not (yet) been analyzed mathematically in depth for their rates of convergence, with the plate/shell thickness varying, but have been shown numerically to perform well. Since the shell elements are general and can be used for linear and nonlinear analyses of plates and shells, it is important to identify the differences in the performance of these elements when compared to the plate elements. We briefly review the quadratic quadrilateral and triangular MITC plate and shell elements and study their performances in linear plate analyses.

A 4-node 3D-shell element to model shell surface tractions and incompressible behavior

We present in this paper a shell element that models the three-dimensional (3D) effects of surface tractions, like needed when a shell is confined between other solid media. The element is the widely used MITC4 shell element enriched by the use of a fully 3D stress–strain description, appropriate through-the-thickness displacements to model surface tractions, and pressure degrees of freedom for incompressible analyses. The element formulation avoids instabilities and ill-conditioning. Various example solutions are presented to illustrate the capabilities of the element.

A shell element for finite strain analyses: hyperelastic material models

PurposeThis paper aims to develop a simple and efficient shell element for large strains hyper‐elastic analyses.Design/methodology/approachBased on the classical MITC4 shell element formulation a 3D shell element with finite strain kinematics is developed. The new quadrilateral shell element has five dof per node and two global dof to model the thickness stretching. The shell element is implemented for hyperelastic material models and the application of different hyperelastic constitutive relations is discussed.FindingsThe results obtained considering three of the hyperelastic material models available in the literature are quite different when the developed strains are relatively high; this indicates that, for analyzing actual engineering examples, experimental data should be used to decide on the most suitable constitutive relation.Originality/valueThe 3D version of the MITC4 element was developed.

Fluid–shell structure interaction analysis by coupled particle and finite element method

This paper presents a coupled particle and finite element method for fluid–shell structure interaction analysis. The Moving Particle Semi-Implicit (MPS) method is used to analyze fluid flow and the MITC4 shell element is used in the FEM analysis of the structure. This paper considers partitioned coupling between the fluid and structural solvers. In order to satisfy compatibility in the employed partitioned coupling scheme, the Neumann–Dirichlet condition is applied to both the fluid and the structure. A symplectic time integration scheme is used to preserve energy when analyzing the shell structure. If the frequencies of the shell analysis are much higher than those of the MPS fluid solver, its time integration scheme is sub-cycled. When the presented coupling scheme was applied to simulate the sloshing phenomenon in an elastic thin shell structure, fluid fragmentation and large structural deformations were observed.

Mathematical and historical reflections on the lowest-order finite element models for thin structures

We discuss the mathematical theory and history of the lowest-order linear and bilinear finite element models for beams, arches, plates and shells. The finite element formulations considered are based on the non-asymptotic Timoshenko beam and Reissner–Mindlin plate models and the analogies of these models for arches and shells. We follow some of the historical roots of the successful linear and bilinear elements, to find various physical justifications for formulations that now may be understood as purely numerical modifications within the usual energy principle. The simplified mathematical theory of such formulations is outlined, first in cases of the beam, arch and plate. We finally focus on the still challenging and largely open problems arising in the modelling of shell deformations. We consider here a simplified shallow shell model and an interpretation of the MITC4 shell element within that model, called MITC4-S. We sum up the results of the recent finite element theory for MITC4-S, concerning the approximation of bending- and membrane-dominated deformations of a shallow shell.

An inf-sup test for shell finite elements

We present an inf-sup test for general mixed shell finite element discretizations. The test is useful in the thorough evaluation of a shell finite element discretization scheme. We apply the test to the MITC shell elements and find that these elements pass the test.