Higher-order assumed strain plane element immune to mesh distortion

Purpose This paper aims to propose a new robust membrane finite element for the analysis of plane problems. The suggested element has triangular geometry. Four nodes and 11 degrees of freedom (DOF) are considered for the element. Each of the three vertex nodes has three DOF, two displacements and one drilling. The fourth node that is located inside the element has only two translational DOF. Design/methodology/approach The suggested formulation is based on the assumed strain method and satisfies both compatibility and equilibrium conditions within each element. This establishment results in higher insensitivity to the mesh distortion. Enforcement of the equilibrium condition to the assumed strain field leads to considerably high accuracy of the developed formulation. Findings To show the merits of the suggested plane element, its different properties, including insensitivity to mesh distortion, particularly under transverse shear forces, immunities to the various locking phenomena and convergence of the element are studied. The obtained results demonstrate the superiority of the suggested element compared with many of the available robust membrane elements. Originality/value According to the attained results, the proposed element performs better than the well-known displacement-based elements such as linear strain triangular element, Q4 and Q8 and even is comparable with robust modified membrane elements.