The quintic finite element and finite strip with generalized degrees of freedom in structural analysis (Q5939432)

The method of quintic finite elements and quintic finite strips with generalized degrees of freedom (DOF) is presented which is based on the philosophy that the local displacement field of an element or strip should be compatible with the global displacement field. At first, the global displacement field of a structure is developed making use of the quintic \(B\)-spline functions. Then the local displacement field of an element/strip is constructed employing the multi-term interpolation functions of degree 5. At last, the displacement field of finite element /strip with generalized DOF is generated when local and global displacement fields are equally matched in their deformation. This kind of high-order finite element/strip can not only effectively widen the scope of application of the conventional quintic element/strip and the spline function method, but also greatly reduce the amount of DOF with the same accuracy as compared to conventional finite elements. Several numerical examples demonstrate accuracy, simplicity and versatility of the present method for analysis of thin-walled structures.