ANALYSIS OF SHELL-LIKE STRUCTURES BY THE BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD BASED ON 3-D ELASTICITY - FORMULATION AND VERIFICATION

Authors
Citation
Yj. Liu, ANALYSIS OF SHELL-LIKE STRUCTURES BY THE BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD BASED ON 3-D ELASTICITY - FORMULATION AND VERIFICATION, International journal for numerical methods in engineering, 41(3), 1998, pp. 541-558
Citations number
25
Categorie Soggetti
Mathematics,Engineering,Mathematics
ISSN journal
00295981
Volume
41
Issue
3
Year of publication
1998
Pages
541 - 558
Database
ISI
SICI code
0029-5981(1998)41:3<541:AOSSBT>2.0.ZU;2-7
Abstract
In this paper, the Boundary Element Method (BEM) for 3-D elastostatic problems is studied for the analysis of shell or shell-like structures . It is shown that the conventional boundary integral equation (CBIE) for 3-D elasticity does not degenerate when applied to shell-like stru ctures, contrary to the case when it is applied to crack-like problems where it does degenerate due to the closeness of the two crack surfac es. The treatment of the nearly singular integrals, which is a crucial step in the applications of BIEs to thin shapes, is presented in deta il. To verify the theory, numerical examples of spherical and ellipsoi dal vessels are presented using the BEM approach developed in this pap er. It is found that the system of equations using the CBIE is well co nditioned for all the thickness studied for the vessels. The advantage s, disadvantages and potential applications of the proposed BEM approa ch to shell-like structures, as compared with the FEM regarding modell ing and accuracy, are discussed in the last section. Applications of t his BEM approach to shell-like structures with non-uniform thickness, stiffeners and layers will be reported in a subsequent paper. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.