Ring-element analysis of layered orthotropic bodies (Q1802846)

The main objective is to obtain a computationally efficient model for the elasticity analysis of laminated circular bodies. This goal is achieved by truncating the Fourier series of the displacement field, in the direction of the circumference, when cylindrical coordinates are considered. Thus the corresponding coefficients are functions of radius and axial coordinate; they are then considered to be in a convenient finite element space and solved for with standard integration techniques. Since scalar products of trigonometric functions have known values, an implicit dimension reduction is obtained; this results in a significant reduction in computational work in the exhibited examples.