A degenerate solid element for linear fracture analysis of plate bending and general shells

Abstract

Abstract A general curved element of arbitrary shape for both thick and thin shells is proposed for the linear fracture analysis of a through crack in a shell or a plate. The element is derived from a degenerate 20‐noded solid isoparametric element using reduced integration technique. The 1/√( r ) singularity of the strains is obtained by the same procedure proposed earlier for two‐ and three‐dimensional problems, 1,2 viz. by placing the mid‐side nodes near the crack at the quarter points. Several illustrated examples ranging from classical solutions to practical problems are given to assess the accuracy of solution attainable.