Application of 1D/3D finite elements coupling for structural nonlinear analysis

Abstract

An element coupling model (ECM) method was proposed to simulate the global behavior and local damage of a structure. In order to reflect the local damage and improve the computational efficiency, three-dimensional (3D) solid elements and one-dimensional (1D) beam element were coupled by the multi-point constraint equations. A reduced scale 1:8 model test was simulated by the ECM and a full three dimensional model (3DM) contrastively. The results show that the global behavior and local damages of ECM agree well with the test and 3DM. It is indicated that the proposed method can be used in the structural nonlinear analysis accurately and efficiently.

Keywords

elements coupling model / global behavior / local damage / multi-point constraint equations / nonlinear analysis