Numerical solution of curved pipes submitted to in-plane loading conditions

An alternative formulation to current meshes dealing with finite shell elements is presented to solve the problem of stress analysis of curved pipes subjected to in-plane bending forces. The solution is based on finite curved elements, where displacements are defined from a total set of trigonometric functions or a fifth-order polynomial, combined with Fourier series. Global shell displacements are achieved through the one associated with curved arch bending and the other referred to the toroidal thin-walled shell distortion. Beam-type displacement and in-plane rotation are uncoupled and separately formulated, using trigonometric shape functions, as in Timoshenko or Mindlin beam theory. To build up the solution, a simple deformation model was adopted, based on the semi-membrane concept of the doubly curved shells behaviour. Several studies are presented and compared with experimental and numerical analyses reported by other authors.