Unsymmetric enhanced assumed strain elements for solid and structural mechanics

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Betsch
• Subject Area: Applied Mechanics, Statics and Dynamics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 466086399

Finite element methods for solid mechanics have been developed for more than four decades. Despite of this, there is still much room for improvement.The goal of the present proposal is to significantly enhance the performance of low-order finite elements. The present approach consists of combining mixed finite element methods with recent developments in the field of unsymmetric finite element methods. In particular, the unsymmetric enhanced assumed strain (EAS) method is newly proposed. The new approach has the potential to significantly increase the attractivity of the current EAS method. The EAS method can be viewed as generalization of the method of incompatible modes and is known to possess outstanding numerical approximation properties. However, the applicability of EASelements is currently plagued with several undesirable side effects which shall be removed to a large extend with the establishment of the newly proposed method.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants