A three-dimensional, shell-solid transition element for general nonlinear analysis

Abstract A transition element that can connect quadratic, isoparametric solid and shell finite elements is presented. Rather than using reduced integration, transverse shear and membrane locking are avoided by interpolating covariant strain components from appropriate points within the element domain. The proposed element is free from spurious zero energy modes and it is applicable to general nonlinear structures. Linear and geometric stiffness matrices are derived in detail. Accurate results are presented for several test cases.

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