Coupling 1D Beams to 3D Bodies

Proceedings, 7th International Meshing Roundtable, Sandia National Lab, pp.285-293, October 1998

MESHING
RESEARCH
CORNER

7th International Meshing Roundtable
October 26-28, 1998
Dearborn, Michigan, USA

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering,
The Queen's University of Belfast,
Ashby Building, Stranmillis Road,
Belfast, BT9 5AH, Northern Ireland.
email: c.armstrong@qub.ac.uk,
web: http://sog.me.qub.ac.uk/femgroup.html

Abstract
A new technique for coupling one dimensional beam elements to three dimensional bodies is described. The essence of the problem is to ensure compatibility of the displacements at the interface. This is achieved by equating the work done at the dimensional interface by the 3D nodes with the work done at the ID node. This is carried out in a manner similar to that used in the development of Reissner plate theory and leads to 6 multipoint constraint equations, one for each degree of freedom of the node in the lD element. The methods used to achieve the coupling for axial force, bending moment, shear force and torsion are discussed and it is shown that the proposed technique does not introduce any spurious stresses at the dimensional interface.

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