A novel approach to analyze beam-like composite structures using mechanics of structure genome

• Euler–Bernoulli beam element and Timoshenko beam element based on the constitutive modeling using mechanics of structure genome.
• New beam elements implemented in CALCULIX so that complex slender structures can be accurately analyzed using simple engineering beam models.
• The software is in the cloud freely accessible by anybody through any device connected to Internet.
• The present work enables engineers to use efficient 1D beam elements to achieve the accuracy of detailed 3D FEA.

A novel approach to the analysis of beam-like composite structure is introduced in this paper. New software Gmsh4SC is developed based on two well-known open source codes Gmsh and CalculiX. One-dimensional Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko type finite elements are derived based on the constitutive models obtained by using Mechanics of Structure Genome (MSG). Gmsh4SC is connected to a general-purpose composites software SwiftCompTM, which implements MSG to carry out the constitutive modeling. The software can be executed in the cloud at https://cdmhub.org/tools/scstandard. Several beam-like composite structures are analyzed by this newly developed software. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are verified by three-dimensional (3D) finite element model using the commercial code ABAQUS.