A new solid-beam approach based on first or higher-order beam theories for finite element analysis of thin to thick structures

Guoqiang Wei (1) , Pascal Lardeur (1) , Frédéric Druesne (1)

1 Roberval - Roberval

A new solid-beam approach devoted to thin to very thick beam-like structures is proposed. To meet the beam displacement fields, kinematic relations are directly applied on the solid finite element model which contains several elements through the thickness and width. It is possible to use any beam theory based on kinematic assumptions and three theories are considered in this paper. The classical first-order beam theory, the modified first-order beam theory and a higher-order beam theory lead to the FOSB, the MFOSB and the HOSB models respectively. Linear equations due to kinematic relations are imposed at slave nodes to meet displacement fields throughout the cross-section, resulting in a reduction of the model size. Two examples are presented: a straight beam and a curved beam under distributed loading. The FOSB model gives unsatisfactory results. For a thin beam, the MFOSB model is adequate but leads to moderate errors in the thick case. Compared to the solid model, the HOSB model offers excellent displacements and stresses in thin and thick cases. The final size of these solid-beam models is slightly larger than that of an approach with classical beam elements.

Mots clés: Solid-beam approach; Finite element; Beam theories; Displacement field

Domaines: Matériaux et structures en mécanique [physics.class-ph]

Guoqiang Wei, Pascal Lardeur, Frédéric Druesne. A new solid-beam approach based on first or higher-order beam theories for finite element analysis of thin to thick structures. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 2022, 200, pp.103655. ⟨10.1016/j.finel.2021.103655⟩. ⟨hal-03462719⟩