A SET OF HYBRID EQUILIBRIUM FINITE ELEMENT MODELS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL SOLIDS

Abstract

In this paper an approach to the formulation of equilibrium elements for the analysis of three-dimensional elasticity problems is presented. This formulation is an extension of the approach previously proposed for the analysis of two-dimensional elasticity problems. The general aspects of the formulation remain unchanged when applied to the new problem, but new points are considered, namely the way to perform volume integrations for general elements and the techniques used to obtain the self-equilibrated three-dimensional stress approximation functions. The numerical behaviour of such elements is presented and discussed.