REFINED HYBRID DEGENERATED SHELL ELEMENT FOR GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS

Based on a variational principle with relaxed inter-element continuity requirements, a refined hybrid quadrilateral degenerated shell elemen t GNRH6, which is a non-conforming model with six internal displacemen ts, is proposed for the geometrically non-linear analysis. The orthogo nal approach and non-conforming modes are incorporated into the geomet rically non-linear formulation. Numerical results show that the orthog onal approach can improve computational efficiency while the non-confo rming modes can eliminate the shear/membrane locking phenomenon and im prove the accuracy. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.