FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF LINEAR AND NONLINEAR PLANAR DEFORMATIONS OF ELASTIC INITIALLY CURVED BEAMS

We discuss both linear and geometrically non-linear finite element ana lysis of elastic beams, taking into account the shear deformation. In linear analysis, a novel shallow beam element formulaton is consistent ly derived, and the end result is more suitable for the finite element implementation than earlier attempts. The element is very resourceful for an explanation of membrane and shear locking phenomena and explor ation of their possible remedies. In addition, it sheds some light on locking phenomena in non-linear analysis. In non-linear analysis, we d iscuss the finite element implementation of the finite strain beam the ory of Reissner.