A mixed edge-based smoothed solid-shell finite element method (MES-FEM) for laminated shell structures

We in this study present a mixed solid-shell finite element formulation for laminated shell analysis. With the commonly adopted truncations applied to the strain components and the Jacobian determinant, a generalized stiffness matrix is established. Discrete shear gap (DSG) technique together with assumed natural strain (ANS) method is employed in order to alleviate shear locking and trapezoidal locking. Stiffness matrix formulation is analytically calculated based on the edge-based cell backgrounds, which result in simple and efficient computation. The proposed formulation does not require using cross-diagonal meshes, which can be an obstacle for several existing three-node degenerated shell elements. This aspect makes the present method much more appealing than others through examples tested. Numerical validations show that the present method performs well for both structured and unstructured triangular meshes.