Comparison of Three-Dimensional Flexible Beam Elements for Dynamic Analysis: Classical Finite Element Formulation and Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation

Abstract

Three formulations for a flexible spatial beam element for dynamic analysis are compared: a Timoshenko beam with large displacements and rotations, a fully parametrized element according to the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF), and an ANCF element based on an elastic line approach. In the last formulation, the shear locking of the antisymmetric bending mode is avoided by the application of either the two-field Hellinger–Reissner or the three-field Hu–Washizu variational principle. The comparison is made by means of linear static deflection and eigenfrequency analyses on stylized problems. It is shown that the ANCF fully parametrized element yields too large torsional and flexural rigidities, and shear locking effectively suppresses the antisymmetric bending mode. The presented ANCF formulation with the elastic line approach resolves most of these problems.