Analysis of shell deformation responses by the meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) approach

A meshless computational method based on the local Petrov-Galerkin approach for the analysis of shell structures is presented. A concept of a three dimensional solid, allowing the use of completely 3-D constitutive models, is applied. Discretization is carried out by using both a moving least square approximation and polynomial functions. The exact shell geometry can be described. Thickness locking is eliminated by using a hierarchical quadratic approximation over the thickness. The. shear locking phenomena in case of thin structures and the sensitivity to rigid body motions are minimized by applying interpolation functions of sufficiently high order. The numerical efficiency of the derived concept is demonstrated by numerical examples.