A new locking-free formulation for planar, shear deformable, linear and quadratic beam finite elements based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation

Many widely used beam finite element formulations are based either on Reissner’s classical nonlinear rod theory or the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF). Advantages of the second method have been pointed out by several authors; among the benefits are the constant mass matrix of ANCF elements, the isoparametric approach and the existence of a consistent displacement field along the whole cross section. Consistency of the displacement field allows simpler, alternative formulations for contact problems or inelastic materials. Despite conceptional differences of the two formulations, the two models are unified in the present paper. In many applications, a nonlinear large deformation beam element with bending, axial and shear deformation properties is needed. In the present paper, linear and quadratic ANCF shear deformable beam finite elements are presented. A new locking-free continuum mechanics based formulation is compared to the classical Simo and Vu-Quoc formulation based on Reissner’s virtual work of internal forces. Additionally, the introduced linear and quadratic ANCF elements are compared to a fully parameterized ANCF element from the literature. The performance of the respective elements is evaluated through analysis of conventional static and dynamic example problems. The investigation shows that the obtained linear and quadratic ANCF elements are advantageous compared to the original fully parameterized ANCF element.