A Geometrically Exact Triangular Shell Element Based on Reproducing Kernel DMS-Splines

To model a multibody system composed of shell components, a geometrically exact Kirchhoff-Love triangular shell element is proposed. The middle surface of the shell element is described by using the DMS-splines, which can exactly represent arbitrary topology piecewise polynomial triangular surfaces. The proposed shell element employs only nodal displacement and can automatically maintain C1 continuity properties at the element boundaries. A reproducing DMS-spline kernel skill is also introduced to improve computation stability and accuracy. The proposed triangular shell element based on reproducing kernel DMS-splines can achieve an almost optimal convergent rate. Finally, the proposed shell element is validated via three static problems of shells and the dynamic simulation of a flexible multibody system undergoing both overall motions and large deformations.