Fully adherent fiber–matrix FEM formulation for geometrically nonlinear 2D solid analysis

This paper presents an accurate finite element formulation for the analysis of twodimensional reinforced elastic solids that develop both small and large deformations. The proposed formulation has four important features: (i) an efficient strategy for modeling fibers immersed in a continuum without introducing new degrees of freedom; (ii) no coincidence among fiber and continuum discretization nodes; (iii) the use of curved fiber elements and isoparametric solid elements of any order; and (iv) a fully satisfied adhesion condition between fibers and matrices, an important feature when modeling large deformed solids. The development of these four features is described in this paper, and numerical examples are employed to demonstrate the proposed methodology's potential.

► Curved finite elements of any order. ► Fully adherent fiber-continua connection. ► Large deformations of reinforced solids. ► No additional degrees of freedom for fiber inclusion.