On the Finite Element Analysis of Shell Structures

Based on recent research works, important concepts on the finite element analysis of shell structures and the relations among them are presented in this paper. We review the basic shell mathematical model, which is the underlying mathematical model of the continuum mechanics based shell finite elements. The asymptotic theory of shell structures then is reviewed and we present how to evaluate the asymptotic behavior in finite element solutions. S-norm is introduced as an error measure of finite element solutions and we show "locking" in the convergence curves of shell finite element solutions. We discuss the concept of "uniform optimal convergence" in finite element analysis of shells. We finally summarize requirements on ideal shell finite elements and propose how to perform benchmark tests of shell finite elements.