Three new triangular shell elements of ANCF represented by Bézier triangles

The past few years have witnessed rapid advances in the integration of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA), such as the Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) method and the Integration of Computer Aided Design and Analysis (I-CAD-A) technique. Recent studies indicated that the geometry description used in the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation (ANCF) is consistent with the geometry description in CAD systems, making it an attractive approach for I-CAD-A. ANCF as an accurate, non-incremental finite element method to deal with the dynamics of those systems subject to large motions and large deformations has developed towards practical application in the field of flexible multibody systems. The objective of this study is to enrich the family of ANCF elements with three new triangular shell elements: the thin triangular element, the low order thick triangular element and the high order thick triangular element, which are represented by Bézier triangles. The linear mapping relationship between the geometrical representation of the Bézier triangle and that of the proposed thin triangular element is established. The invertible property of the linear mapping relationship clearly indicates that the proposed thin triangular element can be also used to perform the I-CAD-A. The conditions of the approximate G^1 continuity between the proposed adjacent elements are also deduced in order to construct a smooth surface. Finally, several static and dynamic numerical examples are employed to validate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed triangular shell elements.