Trefftz- type FEM for solving orthotropic potential problems

• Main Authors: K.Y. Wang, P.C. Li, D.Z. Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Marcílio Alves
• Series: Latin American Journal of Solids and Structures
• Subjects: Orthotropic potential problem; "body force" term; Trefftz finite element method; modified functional; dual reciprocity method
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-78252014001400001&lng=en&tlng=en

A simple Trefftz-type finite element method (TFEM) is proposed for solving certain potential problems in orthotropic media. The "body force", which is induced by internal sources or sinks, may produce domain integrals in the standard Trefftz finite element formulation. This will make the advantage "only-boundary integration" of TFEM lose entirely. To overcome this difficulty, the dual reciprocity method (DRM) is employed to transfer the original problem into a homogeneous one. Then, a particular solution (PS) Trefftz-type finite element model is established based on the modified functional. Three benchmark examples are investigated by the proposed approach and compared with the analytical solutions.