Accurate and locking-free analysis of beams, plates and shells using solid elements

This paper investigates the capacity of solid finite elements with independent interpolations for displacements and strains to address shear, membrane volumetric locking in analysis beam, plate shell structures. The performance proposed strain/displacement formulation is compared standard one through a set eleven benchmark problems. In addition relative both element formulations, studies effect discretization material characteristics. first refers different typologies (hexahedra, prisms) shapes (regular, skewed, warped configurations). second isotropic, orthotropic layered materials, nearly incompressible states. For cases, B-bar method employed formulations. Numerical results show enhanced accuracy predicting stresses displacements, as well producing locking-free discrete solutions, which converge asymptotically corresponding continuous