Two-mesh refinement indicators and adaptivity in non-linear explicit finite element analysis of shells using LS-DYNA

Two-mesh refinement indicators based on the gradients of effective stresses and effective plastic strains, respectively, are proposed for adaptive finite element analysis of the large deformation, materially non-linear dynamic response of shells. The refinement strategy consists of equi-distributing the variation of stresses or plastic strains over the elements of the mesh. A program module for implementing these refinement indicators has been developed and coupled with the general non-linear finite element explicit code LS-DYNA 1. Numerical examples including both material and geometric non-linearities are presented. It is shown that these indicators can effectively identify those finite elements, which have high gradients of stresses and strains so that the mesh is refined in the region's undergoing the most severe deformations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.