Corotational mixed finite element formulation for thin-walled beams with generic cross-section

The corotational technique is adopted here for the analysis of three-dimensional beams. The technique exploits the technology that applies to a two-noded element, a coordinate system which continuously translates and rotates with the element. In this way, the rigid body motion is separated out from the deformational motion. In this paper, a mixed formulation are adopted for the derivation of the local element tangent stiffness matrix and nodal forces. The mixed finite element formulation is based on an incremental form of the two-field Hellinger–Reissner variational principle to permit elasto-plastic material behavior. The local beam kinematics is based on a low-order nonlinear strain expression using Bernoulli assumption. The present formulation captures both the Saint–Venant and warping torsional effects of thin-walled open cross-sections. Shape functions that satisfy the nonlinear local equilibrium equations are selected for the interpolation of the stress resultants. In particular, for the torsional forces and the twist rotation degree of freedom, a family of hyperbolic interpolation functions is adopted in lieu of conventional polynomials. Governing equations are expressed in a weak form, and the constitutive equations are enforced at each integration cross-section along the element length. A consistent state determination algorithm is proposed. This local element, together with the corotational framework, can be used to analyze the nonlinear buckling and postbuckling of thin-walled beams with generic cross-section. The present corotational mixed element solution is compared against the results obtained from a corotational displacement-based model having the same beam kinematics and corotational framework. The superiority of the mixed formulation is clearly demonstrated.