EVALUATION OF OVERHAUSER SPLINES AS BOUNDARY ELEMENTS IN LINEAR ELASTOSTATICS

The Overhauser spline, which was developed originally for use in geometric modeling, is shown to be an effective and improved element type in the boundary element method for the analysis of linear elastostatics problems. The element is constructed by a linear blending of two parabolic curves; the result is a new form of cubic element in which the end nodes are shared by adjacent elements. C1 continuity between elements is inherently maintained and thus better boundary representations are possible. Examples are presented in which the new element is demonstrated to be a superior performer in comparison with standard Lagrangian linear, quadratic, and cubic elements.