A SIMPLE CLASS OF FINITE-ELEMENTS FOR PLATE AND SHELL PROBLEMS .1. ELEMENTS FOR BEAMS AND THIN FLAT PLATES

This is the first paper of a pair which together discuss the development of a class of overlapping hinged bending finite elements which are suitable for the analysis of thin-shell, plate and beam structures. These elements rely on a simple physical analogy, involving overlapping hinged facets. They are based on quadratic overlapping assumed displacement functions. Only translational nodal degrees of freedom are necessary, which is a significant simplification over most other currently available beam, plate and shell finite elements which employ translational, rotational and higher-order nodal variables. In this paper the hinged bending element concept is introduced, and the hinged beam bending (HBB) and hinged plate bending (HPB) elements are formulated. In paper II these concepts are extended to develop a hinged shell bending (HSB) element. The HSB element can be readily combined with the constant strain triangular (CST) plane stress finite element for the modelling of thin-shell structures.