Error through the constitutive relation for beam and \(C^0\) plate finite elements: Static and vibration analyses (Q1818481)

Applications of so-called error through the constitutive relation are presented for the static and modal analysis of beams and plates. The error associated with the computation is estimated by two admissible fields related to the constitutive relation. One is the admissible stress resultant field, and the other is the generalized strain given by the finite element analysis. Admissible stress resultants are derived from the finite element stress solution following two main ideas. Firstly, loads and moments ensuring the element equilibrium are calculated locally using an ``on average'' equilibrium property of the finite element stress solution. Secondly, the stress resultants are determined within a set large enough to an optimization by rendering the error estimation more accurate. For the normal mode analysis, the authors perform an error estimation for each eigenvector associated to a frequency within a given range. An automatic procedure is described in the case of beam structures that ensures a given accuracy for all modes in a given frequency range. A set of examples is presented wherein the estimated error is compared to the error obtained from the analytical solution. These examples show that the beam and plate analysis are areas well adapted to the method.