Thermal stress analysis of plates and shallow shells by hybrid finite-element method

Abstract

A rectangular finite-element model has been developed for thermal-stress analysis of shallow shells. The elemental equations are obtained from a two-field variational principle which employs equilibriating stress fields within the elements and compatible displacement fields along inter-element boundaries. The extremization of the variational functional tends to satisfy the compatibility requirements within the elements and equilibrium conditions along inter-element boundaries. The element is employed for thermal-stress analysis of several examples and the numerical results obtained are compared with some analytical results.