A COROTATIONAL ELEMENT TIME-INTEGRATION STRATEGY FOR NONLINEAR DYNAMICS

New procedures are proposed for implicit dynamic analysis using the finite element method. The main aim is to give stable solutions with significant rigid-body motions, in particular rotations. In contrast to most conventional approaches, the time-integration strategy is closely linked to the 'element technologies' with the latter involving a form of co-rotational procedure. For the undamped situation, one of the solution procedures leads to an algorithm that exactly conserves energy when constant external forces are applied (i.e. with gravity loading).