A small strain, three-dimensional, elastic and elastoplastic Element-Free G
alerkin (EFG) formulation is developed. Singular weight functions are utili
zed in the Moving-Least-Squares (MLS) determination of shape functions and
shape function derivatives allowing accurate, direct nodal imposition of es
sential boundary conditions. A variable domain of influence EFG method is i
ntroduced leading to increased efficiency in computing the MLS shape functi
ons and their derivatives. The elastoplastic formulations are based on the
consistent tangent operator approach and closely follow the incremental for
mulations for non-linear analysis using finite elements. Several linear ela
stic and small strain elastoplastic numerical examples are presented to ver
ify the accuracy of the numerical formulations. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wil
ey & Sons, Ltd.