A partition-of-unity based ‘FE-Meshfree’ triangular element with radial-polynomial basis functions for static and free vibration analysis

A new ‘FE-Meshfree’ three-node triangular element (Trig3-RPIM) is developed based on the partition of unity (PU) concept. The Trig3-RPIM element employs the shape function of classical three-node triangular element (Trig3) to construct the PU and the radial-polynomial basis function which is free from the possible singularity of the moment matrix to construct the nodal approximation. The Trig3-RPIM element synergizes the individual strengths of finite element method and meshfree method. Moreover, it is free from the linear dependence problem which otherwise cripples many of the PU based finite elements. Several linear, nonlinear and free vibration test problems are solved and the performance of the element is compared with those of the well-known three-node triangular element (Trig3) and four-node iso-parametric quadrilateral element (Quad4). The results show that, for regular meshes, the performance of the element is superior to those of Trig3 and Quad4 elements. For distorted meshes, the present element has better mesh-distortion tolerance than Trig3 and Quad4 elements.