An Isogeometric Element Formulation for Linear Two-Dimensional Elasticity Based on the Airy Equation

Abstract

[EN] The aim of this work is to derive a formulation for linear two-dimensional elasticity using just one degree of freedom. This degree of freedom is used to directly discretize the Airy bipotential equation, which requires higher order basis functions. Isogeometric structural analysis is based on shape functions of the geometry description in Computer-Aided design software. These shape functions can easily fulfill the continuity requirement of the bipotential equation. Thus, an Airy element formulation can be obtained through isogeometric methods. In this contribution Non-Uniform Rational B-splines are used to discretize the domain and to solve the occurring differential equations. Numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy of the evolved formulation for a quadratic plate under different load situations.