Integral finite element method for dynamical analysis of elastic–viscoelastic composite structures

Four types of integral finite elements have been developed and used to estimate the dynamical characteristics of elastic–viscoelastic composite structures, namely sandwich beam, plate and shell structures with viscoelastic materials as core layers. The results of the integral finite element prediction are compared with those from the direct frequency response method and experiment, showing that the numerical stability, convergence and accuracy of the integral finite elements are satisfactory in terms of engineering applications.