Motion analysis of 3D membrane structures by a vector form intrinsic finite element

In this paper, a constant strain triangular membrane element, which is a new member of the VFIFE (vector form intrinsic finite element) family, is proposed to analyze space motion of arbitrary 3D membrane structures. A description of kinematics to dissect rigid body and deformation displacements, and a set of deformation coordinates for each time increment to describe deformation and internal nodal forces are provided. Similar to other members of the VFIFE family, a convected material frame and explicit time integration for the solution procedures are also adopted. Five numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the performance and applicability of the proposed element on the motion analysis of 3D membrane structures. It was found that the proposed element could go through the patch tests and gives stable, convergent and accurate results.