Stabilized DSG Elements – A New Paradigm in Finite Element Technology

The Discrete Shear Gap Method, initially proposed for the elimination of transverse shear locking in plate and shell finite elements is extended to a more general concept, applicable to other locking problems, typically causing severe trouble in structural analysis, especially in the case of thin-walled structures. The outstanding feature of the proposed formulation is the fact that one unique method is used to avoid various different kinds of locking phenomena. It is applicable to beam plate and shell elements, but also to two-dimensional and three-dimensional solid elements. The fact that approximation quality is often subject to strong sensitivity to mesh distortion can be alleviated with the help of stabilization methods.