A new 3D 6-node solid finite element based upon the “Space Fibre Rotation” concept

A Four-Node Tetrahedral Finite Element Based on Space Fiber Rotation Concept

“…1 shows the geometry of the four-node tetrahedral element, in which a virtual space fiber iq is incorporated at the nodal level. The fiber rotation, represented by the rotation vector  , will generate an additional displacement vector that would enrich the classical displacement field Uq of point q, used to formulate the standard 4-node solid tetrahedral element [10,11].…”

“…The so-called Space Fiber Rotation (SFR) concept was firstly introduced by Ayad [8] and later by Meftah [9] to enhance the accuracy of first-order finite elements. This SFR concept was then adapted to 3D elastic structures by Meftah et al [10] by developing a 3D six-node prismatic solid element, named SFR6, and by Ayad et al [11] by introducing two 3D eight-node hexahedral solid elements named SFR8 and SFR8I (with incompatible mode). One would like to recall that the present concept was firstly derived from 2D and extended later for 3D virtual rotations of a nodal fiber that improves the approximation of the displacement vector.…”

“…These SFR concept-based solid elements present three rotational and three translational DOFs per node. Furthermore, in the work of Meftah et al [12], an extension of the SFR eight-node hexahedral elements SFR8 and SFR8I, was proposed to account for geometrically nonlinear problems. Moreover, Meftah et al [13] developed a multilayered extension of the eight-node hexahedral element named SFR8M to study composite laminate structures.…”

“…In particular, it was shown that these 3D SFR solid elements yield results that are significantly better than those of the classical first-order wedge and hexahedral elements and globally close to those of the classical quadratic elements. It should be noted that the SFR solid elements maintain a good performance especially for coarse and distorted meshes [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

An Eight-Node Hexahedral Finite Element with Rotational DOFs for Elastoplastic Applications

“…The response of these two elements in the linear static regime was examined through a series of benchmarks where the findings show a better accuracy than the classical first order hexahedral element and close to the quadratic 20-node hexahedral element. In the same vein, the SFR concept was adopted in the works of Meftah et al [27,28] to develop a six-node wedge element SFR6 and a multilayered hexahedral element SFR8M. In recent developments on the SFR elements, the SFR8 and the SFR8I elements were implemented into the commercial code ABAQUS by means of the UEL interface to address nonlinear geometric problems [29].…”