The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

A Robust Quadrilateral Membrane Finite Element With Drilling Degrees of Freedom

Ibrahimbegovic, Adnan H.; Taylor, Robert L.; Wilson, Edward L.

UCB/SEMM-1989/17, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1989-08, 23 pages

A quadrilateral membrane finite element with drilling degrees of freedom is derived from variational principles emplying independent rotation field. Both displacement based and mixed approach are investigated. The element exhibits excellent accuracy characteristics. When combined with a plate bending element, the element provides an efficient tool for linear analysis of shells.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/SEMM/SEMM-89-17.pdf (1 MB)