Three-node triangular element for arbitrarily laminated general shells

Abstract A spurious transverse stiffness-free, isoparametric-formulation-based three-node triangular finite element, suitable for both moderately-thick and very thin advanced fiber reinforced arbitrary laminated shells, is presented. The basic finite element formulations relate to the consideration of the effects of transverse shear deformations similar to the first order shear deformation theory that introduces five degrees of freedom, three translations and two rotations, at each node of the element. A full integration scheme normally exhibits locking phenomenon among FSDT-based elements having the inherent property of C 0 -continuity. The three-node triangular element is the most discreditable one among all elements for thin situations. This isoparametric-based element is well known for its shear locking effects in thin situations when a full or reduced integration scheme is used. These shear locking effects are now eliminated by imposing a constant transverse shear strain criterion and introducing a shear correction expression in the formulations. The element has shown a robustness in all types of triangular mesh configurations and in coupling effects that arise due to the lamination sequences. The numerical results include convergence tests for transverse displacement and moment for shells of rectangular platform for moderately-thick and very thin situations. These numerical results are compared with the recently available analytical solutions.