An alternative alpha finite element method (AαFEM) for free and forced structural vibration using triangular meshes

An alternative alpha finite element method (A alpha FEM) using triangular elements is proposed that significantly improves the accuracy of the standard triangular finite elements and provides a superconvergent solution in the energy norm for the static analysis of two-dimensional solid mechanics problems. In the A alpha FEM, the piecewise constant strain field of linear triangular FEM models is enhanced by additional strain terms with an adjustable parameter alpha which results in an effectively softer stiffness formulation compared to a linear triangular element. The element is further extended to the free and forced vibration analyses of solids. Several numerical examples show that the A alpha FEM achieves high reliability compared to other existing elements in the literature. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.