[Back]

H.A. Mang:
"Derivation of General Algebraic Constraint Conditions for 'Weak' C1-Continuity for Thin Shells";
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 11 (1977), 1593 - 1604.

Employing C^0 conforming thin shell elements, a derivation of general algebraic equations for enforcing C^1 interelement continuity in a 'weak' (that is, integral) sense is presented. 'Restoring ' of strict C^1 continuity is treated as a special case Keywords: N/Aof the proposed concept. The constraint equations do not depend on the metric of the given shell. While, for smooth shells, this is automatically the case, if strict C^1 continuity is 'restored', the constraint equations usually depend on the metric of the shell, if only 'weak' C^1 continuity is enforced. The independence of the proposed constraint equations of the metric of the shell facilitates the computer implementation of the proposed approach. It is demonstrated that linear dependencies among the constraint equations can easily be detected and a priori be eliminated. It is also shown that, in certain cases, it is very easy to switch from an (intrinsically) element-interface-oriented concept to an element-oriented technique of generating constraint equations with the help of the digital computer. The latter mode offers computational advantages, if an element-oriented mode of solving the global system of algebraic equations (equilibrium and constraint equations), such as Iron's wave front technique, is adopted.