COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR SEMI-ANALYTICAL FINITE ELEMENT STABILITY ANALYSIS OF THIN-WALLED STRUCTURES

Abstract

Computational tools implementing the semi-analytical finite elements for the linear and stability analysis of thin-walled beams are considered. The proposed method presents two-stage discretisation, where the thin-walled cross section is approximated by the semi-analytical finite elements at the first stage, while conventional longitudinal finite element discretisation is performed at the second stage. The developed computational tools for the processor allow assembling of the global linear and geometric stiffness matrices and present them in a form as it is used in conventional finite element software. The proposed computational tools for pre- and post-processors enable to perform communication between the user and convention finite elements software. Solution examples illustrate the use software tools and the quality of the results.