New prismatic solid-shell element: Assumed strain formulation and evaluation on benchmark problems

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a six-node solid-shell finite element called (SHB6) and based on the assumed strain method adopted by Belytschko et al. [2]. It is integrated with a set of five Gauss points along a special direction, denoted “thickness”, and with only one point in the other in-plane directions. Its discrete gradient is modified in order to attenuate shear and membrane locking. A series of popular linear benchmark problems has been carried out with comparisons to geometrically similar, low-order three-dimensional elements.