Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul.

in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3
DOI 10.1186/s40323-017-0089-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access

Finite-strain three-dimensional solids with

rotational degrees of freedom: non-linear
statics and dynamics
Abir Boujelben1 and Adnan Ibrahimbegovic2*

* Correspondence:

adnan.ibrahimbegovic@utc.fr Abstract
2
Laboratoire Roberval de
Mécanique, Chair of
In this paper we seek refined yet efficient computational models of large overall motion
Computational Mechanics, in statics and dynamics. The efficiency is achieved by the proposed model of 8-node
Chaire de Mécanique PICRDIE, brick element with rotational degrees of freedom which allows to separate large
Centre de Recherches de
Royallieu, Sorbonne Universités,
displacements and large rotations. The independent rotation field leads to an intrinsic
Université de Technologie de representation of the rotation tensor, ensuring a smooth interaction between 3D solids
Compiègne, CS 60319, 60200 and beam elements. The element is based on a sound variational formulation and the
Compiègne Cedex, France
Full list of author information is
incompatible mode method which allows to construct enhanced strain representation.
available at the end of the article Several numerical examples are presented to show an excellent performance of this
element in the whole range of large overall motion in the statics and dynamics
problems.
Keywords: 3D solids, Dynamics problems, Large displacements and rotations, Elastic
deformation, Newmark scheme, Incompatible modes, Operator split

Introduction
Solid elements with low-order interpolations are generally recommended in structural
mechanics because they can be used efficiently in nonlinear applications since they have
a more robust performance in the distorted configurations. However, in many cases,
especially in bending dominated problems, standard brick elements show severe stiffening
effects known as locking problems [1,2]. Several methods have been proposed over years in
order to overcome these locking phenomena. For example, the enhanced assumed strain
(EAS) have been used in geometrically nonlinear version [3–5] where the strain field can
be enriched in order to improve the element’s performance under certain conditions. 3D
solid elements with rotational degrees of freedom are also proposed with different discrete
approximations like the method of the mixed interpolations of tensorial components
[6] for the brick element of Wils on and Ibrahimbegovic [2]. The Space Fiber Rotation
concept (SFR) [7] and the shift of the mid-side displacement DOFs of the classical 20-node
hexahedral element into corner nodal translations and rotations are proposed by Yunu
and al. [8].
In this paper, we propose the method of incompatible modes for constructing enhanced
strain approximation as the most viable approach for improving the performance of low
order elements. A very important choice pertains to large strain measures, which allows to
© The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

0123456789().,–: vol
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 2 of 24

separate large displacements and large rotations. We illustrate the proposed approach on
an 8-node displacement-based hexahedron, including both usual displacement degrees of
freedom and rotation degrees of freedom that are independently interpolated. We reca-
pitulate the variational formulation including the incompatible displacement modes for
3D finite displacement elasticity problems, along with the fine details of the numerical
implementation.
Given the goal of using this element in dynamics, we introduce the inertial effects in the
variational formulation in order to handle dynamic analysis. It is important to state that the
proposed formulation is shown to be more efficient than others formulations using floating
frames. In fact, it is set in a fixed frame that allows to eliminate the Coriolis effects and lead
to a simple quadratic form of the kinetic energy. This results with a mass matrix with con-
stant components and consequently simplifies the time-integration computational phase.
The proposed enhanced solid element is compatible with shell finite elements [9] as
well as beam elements [10]. This offers an efficient performance for modeling linear and
nonlinear dynamic behavior of complex structures. The rotational degrees of freedom are
presented by orthogonal tensor, as an intrinsic representation of large rotations.
The outline of the paper is as follows. In “Standard variational formulations for statics”
section we present the variational formulations for the continuum with independent
rotation fields in geometrically nonlinear theory. Then, we discuss the regularized form of
the variational formulations, with some details of numerical implementation in “Modified
variational formulations for statics and its discrete approximation” section. We extend
to dynamics analysis in “Variational formulations for dynamics” section. The solution
procedures are developed to obtain the corresponding solutions in “Newmark implicit
time-stepping scheme” section. Several numerical simulations dealing with static and
dynamic problems are presented in “Numerical examples” section. Some closing remarks
are given in “Closing remarks” section.

Standard variational formulations for statics

In this section we discuss the variational formulations for the continuum with independent
rotation field in geometrically nonlinear theory. The starting point in our considerations
can be provided by the classical potential energy principle. It is a function of the finite
displacement field u, writing as a sum of the strain energy and the potential energy of
external forces
 
Π (u) = W (H(u)) dV − u · f dV (1)
V V

where W (H(u)) is a stored energy given as a function of the chosen Biot’s finite strain
measure and u is the finite displacement field. The second integral represents the external
work for the Dirichlet boundary value problem.
The finite strain measure H, often called Biot strain [11], can be the most explicitly
defined via the polar decomposition theorem (e.g., see [12], p. 14). Namely, if the defor-
mation is a vector field ϕ, which is, without loss of generality for our purposes, specified
with respect to the Euclidean coordinate system with the base vectors ei , i.e. if

xϕ = ϕ(x); x = xi ei ; ϕ = ϕi ei (2)

then, the deformation gradient can be written as

Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 3 of 24

∂ϕi
F = ∇ϕ; F = ei ⊗ e j (3)
∂xj

where  ⊗ denotes the tensor product.

Introducing the displacement vector field: u = ϕ(x) − x, the deformation gradient can
be rewritten in terms of the displacement gradient ∇u as

∂ui
F = ∇ϕ = I + ∇u; ∇u = ei ⊗ e j ; I = δij ei ⊗ ej (4)
∂xj

The polar decomposition theorem [13] states that the deformation gradient can be
factored in a unique way into F = RU where U is the right stretch tensor describing
deformation, while R is the orthogonal rotation tensor. Then, the Biot strain tensor,
defined with: H = U − I, is used to rewrite the polar decomposition theorem

I + ∇u = R(H + I) (5)

By eliminating the rotation field in (5) via orthogonality of R, we get a functional rela-
tionship between H and u

1 1
H + H2 = (∇u + (∇u)T + (∇u)T ∇u) (6)
2 2

which is needed in (1).

The relation in (6) is quite complex given geometrically nonlinear nature of the prob-
lem. Thus, we can choose much simpler formulation if the Biot strain is included in the
functional (1).
Hence, we want that the polar decomposition in (5) be recovered as the Euler Lagrange
equation of a new variational formulation rather than having it as a subsidiary condition
of the variational formulation in (1). The Lagrange multiplier procedure can be used to
impose that condition in the form

PF = P: [(I + ∇u) − R(I + H)] dV (7)
V

P is the non-symmetric Piola–Kirchhoff stress, which plays the role of the Lagrange
multiplier [14].
The weak form of the polar decomposition in (7) can be added to the variational formu-
lation in (1)
 
Π (u, R, P, H) = {W (H) − P · [(I + ∇u) − R(I + H)]} dV − u · f dV (8)
V V

The formulation we propose, considers Biot strain and stress measures. The Biot stress
tensor is obtained by the pull-back of the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress P, by using the
rotation part R of the deformation gradient: T = RT P. The variational formulation in (8)
can be written as
 
Π (u, R, T, H) = {W (H) − T · H + T · [RT (I + ∇u) − I)]} dV − u · f dV (9)
V V
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 4 of 24

The Euler–Lagrange equations associated with the principle in (9) can be obtained by
taking the directional derivative in the direction of virtual displacements δu, virtual rota-
tions δR, virtual stresses δT and virtual strains δH. We thus obtain: linear momentum
balance, angular momentum balance, definition of strains H and rotations R and consti-
tutive equations

(i) div(RT) + f = 0
(ii) RT(I + ∇u)T = (I + ∇u)(RT)T
(iii) H = symm[RT (I + ∇u) − I]; skew [RT (I + ∇u)] = 0 (10)

∂W (H) 1
(iv) symmT = = CH; symmT = (T + TT )
∂H 2

We use the Legendre transform to introduce the complementary energy Σ(symmT)

−H · symmT + W (H) = −Σ(symmT) (11)

By introducing the result in (11) into the variational formulation in (9), we can eliminate
the strain field H to get the three-field variational formulation
    
Π (u, R, T) = V −Σ(symmT) + T · RT (I + ∇u) − I dV − u · f dV (12)
V

The Euler–Lagrange equations in (10) remain preserved, apart from constitutive equa-
tions, which connects directly the stresses with the displacements and rotations

∂Σ(symmT)
= symm[RT (I + ∇u) − I]; skew [RT (I + ∇u)] = 0 (13)
∂ symmT

Modified variational formulations for statics and its discrete approximation

Enhanced displacement gradient
In seeking to improve performance of the discrete approximation, we consider the incom-
patible modes method to reparameterize the assumed displacement gradient field in terms
of additive decomposition of ‘compatible’ ∇u and enhanced (‘incompatible’) part d. In
particular, we assume the enhanced displacement gradient given as

D = ∇u + d (14)

The condition above can be included in the variational principle in (12) via Lagrange
multiplier procedure to get
   
Π (u, d, R, T, P) = −Σ(symmT) + T · RT (I + D) − I
V

− P · d} dV − u · f dV (15)
V
where P is the first Piola–Kirchoff stress tensor, conjugate with the enhanced displacement
gradient d.
Note that in the variational principle in (15) it is sufficient that the enhanced displace-
ment gradient belongs only to the space of square-integrable functions in the domain V
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 5 of 24

denoted L2 (V). Thus, the enhanced displacement gradient in the finite element approx-
imation can be discontinuous over an element boundaries (‘incompatible’). We note in
passing that the strong form and the Euler–Lagrange equation will not change, since


δP · d dV = 0; d = 0 (16)
V

Regularized variational formulations

We assume that the complementary energy potential can be constructed as a quadratic
form in terms of stress

1
Σ(symmT) = symmT · C−1 symmT (17)
2

where C is the elasticity tensor defined by its standard form [13].

Hence, the variational principle in (15) becomes
 
1
Π (u, d, R, T, P) = − symmT · C−1 symmT
V 2
   
T
+ T · R (I + D) − I − P · d dV − u · f dV (18)
V

The variational principle needs to be regularized in order to preserve stability. In geo-

metrically linear theory, Hughes and Brezzi proposed a regularized form of the variational
principle [14] in order to be able to use any convenient discrete approximation. The cor-
responding generalization of their proposal for the present geometrically nonlinear case
can be written as

1
Πγ (u, d, R, T, P) = Π (u, d, R, T, P) − skewT · γ −1 skewT dV (19)
V 2

where γ is a regularization parameter. An optimal value of γ , γ = μ, was identified in

geometrically linear cases [14].
The regularized form of the variational principle preserves the Euler–Lagrange equa-
tions (10) and (13), while producing an additional Euler–Lagrange equation which is given
as

skewT = γ skew[RT (I + D) − I] (20)

By means of Eq. (20), the regularized variational principle can be obtained featuring
only the kinematics variables being able to reduce to a minimum the number of unknown
fields.
     
1
Π (u, d, R, T, P) = symm RT (I + D) − I · Csymm RT (I + D) − I
V 2
1    
+ skew RT (I + D) − I · γ skew RT (I + D) − I
2  
−P · d dV − u · f dV (21)
V
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 6 of 24

Variational equations in compact notation

For computational efficiency, we will further switch to the matrix notation. The variational
principle in (21) can be restated as
 
1
Π (u, d, R, p) = e(u, R, d) · Ce(u, R, d)
V 2
 
1
+ ω(u, R, d) · γ ω(u, R, d) − pT d dV − u · f dV (22)
2 V
where the symmetric part of the Biot strain measure is mapped into a 6-dimensional
vector

e(u, R, d) = Λ(R)(y(u) + d) − 1 (23)

while the shew-symmetric part is mapped into a 3-dimensional vector

ω(u, R, d) = Ξ(R)(y(u) + d) (24)

Here we used the following compact notation

 
R = [r1 , r2 , r3 ] ; [I + ∇u] = y1 (u), y2 (u), y3 (u) ; dT = dT1 dT2 dT3

⎡ ⎤ ⎛ ⎞
rT1 0T 0T 1
⎢ T ⎥ ⎜ ⎟
⎢0 rT2 0T ⎥ ⎡ ⎤ ⎛ ⎞ ⎜1 ⎟
⎢ ⎥ ⎜ ⎟
⎢ T ⎥ rT2 −rT1 0T y1 (u) ⎜ ⎟
⎢0 0T rT3 ⎥ ⎢ T ⎥ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜1 ⎟
⎢ ⎥ ⎜ ⎟
Λ(R) = ⎢ T ⎥; Ξ(R) = ⎢
⎣
0 rT3 −rT2 ⎥;
⎦ y(u) = ⎜ y (u)⎟
⎝ 2 ⎠; 1=⎜ ⎟
⎢ r2 r3 0 ⎥
T T ⎜0 ⎟
⎢ ⎥ −rT3 0T rT1 y3 (u) ⎜ ⎟
⎢ T ⎥ ⎜ ⎟
⎢0 rT3 rT1 ⎥ ⎜0 ⎟
⎣ ⎦ ⎝ ⎠
rT3 0T rT2 0
(25)

The perturbed configuration is defined by u = u + δu and R = exp(δW)R with δu

as the virtual displacement and δW as the infinitesimal skew-symmetric tensor of virtual
rotation where

δW = δRR, δWb = δw × b, ∀ b ∈ R3 (26)

We note the key difference in dealing with large displacements (vector) and large rota-
tions (tensor) in this kind of computation (e.g. see [15] for more elaborate presentations).
This allows to write the variation of strain measures

δe(u, R, d) = Λ(R)(y(δu) + Y(u) + D  δw)

(27)


δω(u, R, d) = Ξ(R)(y(δu) + Y(u) + D δw)

 are defined as follows

where Y(u) and D
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
Υ (y1 (u)) Υ (d1 ) 0 v3 −v2
⎢ ⎥  ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
Y(u) = ⎣Υ (y2 (u))⎦; D = ⎣Υ (d2 )⎦; Υ (v) = ⎣−v3 0 v1 ⎦ (28)
Υ (y3 (u)) Υ (d3 ) v2 −v1 0
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 7 of 24

We further simplify the writing with virtual displacement and virtual rotation vectors
 
grouped together in δaT = δuT , δwT . The variational equations (principle of virtual
work) that follow from (22) are obtained by the directional derivative in the direction of
virtual displacement and virtual rotation δa, virtual enhanced displacement gradient δd
and virtual stresses δp.

δa · r(u, R, d, p) := {δe · Ce(u, R, d) + δω · γ ω(u, R, d)}
V

− δu.f dV = 0
 V
δd · h(u, R, d, p) := {δd · ΛT (R)Ce(u, R, d) (29)
V
+ δd · Ξ T (R)γ ω(u, R, d) − δdT p}dV = 0

δp · g(u, R, d, p) := {δpT d}dV = 0
V

Finite element incompatible mode interpolations

We deal here with the discrete problem, defined with the finite element approximations.
The displacement and rotation fields are approximated by using the standard isoparamet-
ric interpolations for three-dimensional solid elements with 8 nodes


8 
8
u(x) = NI (x)uI ≡ Nue , w(x) = NI (x)wI ≡ Nwe (30)
I=1 I=1

where NI are the standard shape functions while uI and wI are the corresponding nodal
values.
The virtual displacements δu and virtual rotations δw are approximated in the same
manner


8 
8
δu(x) = NI (x)δuI , δw(x) = NI (x)δwI (31)
I=1 I=1

With these interpolations, the displacement gradient of the virtual displacement field
can be written as
⎡ ∂N ⎤
I
I3
⎢ ∂x1 ⎥
8 ⎢ ⎥
⎢ ∂N ⎥
y(δu) = BI δuI , BI = ⎢ I
I
⎢ ∂x2 3 ⎥
⎥ (32)
⎢ ⎥
I=1 ⎣ ⎦
∂NI
I
∂x3 3

The interpolation of the enhanced displacement gradient is constructed by using deriva-

tives of the incompatible displacement α [2]
⎡ ∂M ⎤
I
∂x1 I3
⎢ ⎥

Nim ⎢ ⎥

⎢ ⎥
d= e ⎢ ∂MI ⎥
ĜJ (x)αJ ≡ Ĝ(x)α , Ĝ = Ĝ1 , Ĝ2 , Ĝ3 , ĜI = ⎢ ∂x2 I3 ⎥ (33)
J =1 ⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
∂MI
∂x3 I 3
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 8 of 24

where M1 = (1 − ξ 2 ), M2 = (1 − η2 ) and M3 = (1 − ζ 2 ) are chosen as quadratic

polynomials. This choice is made to enhance the bending dominated performance [2].
The proposed interpolation should be modified to ensure that the incompatible modes
are not active for constant stress, which guarantees the convergence of the incompatible
mode method in the spirit of the patch test [16]; we impose:

ĜdV = 0 (34)
V

which will in turn eliminate the variable p from the variational equations. For a given
interpolation Ĝ, we can always construct the modified interpolation enforcing (34) as
shown in [17] .

1
Ĝm = Ĝ − ĜdV = 0 (35)
V V

Such modified incompatible mode interpolation will in turn eliminate the variable p
from the variational equations. We should thus compute the stress tensor as follows

s = ΛT Ce(u, R, d) + Ξ T γ ω(u, R, d) (36)

which further reduces the variational equations in (29) to a set of equilibrium equations,
which can be written as
 
T
r(u, R, d) = B̂ s dV − NT f dV = 0
 V V
T
h(u, R, d) = Ĝ s dV = 0 (37)
V

where

B̂ = B, Ŷ , B = [B1 , B2 , . . . , B8 ]
(38)

 , N2 Y(u) + D
Ŷ = N1 Y(u) + D  , . . . , N8 Y(u) + D


One possibility to solve the non-linear system in (37) is to linearize the complete system,
as presented in [18] for a two-dimensional case. In present 3D case, the linearization leads
to more complexity and involves the use of the secondary storage. Note however that the
system size is not increased thanks to using the operator split method, which is presented
in detail in Appendix I.

Variational formulations for dynamics

The equations of motion for the transient problem is based upon the variational formu-
lations, by appealing to the Hamilton principle. In fact, the only new term with respect
to the variational formulations in statics concerns the directional derivative of the kinetic
energy, written as

1
Q(u(x, t)) = u̇(x, t) · ρ u̇(x, t) dV (39)
V 2

The kinetic energy in (39) is chosen as quadratic form only in terms of displacement
fields. The independent rotation field is not involved, for it only serves to introduce the
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 9 of 24

Biot strain measures. Thus, the variational equations in dynamics are written as modified
form of these in (29) assuming for inertial effects
 
δa · r(u, R, d, p) := δu · ρ ü dV +
{δe · Ce(u, R, d)
V
 V

+ δω · γ ω(u, R, d)} − δu.f dV = 0

 V

δd · h(u, R, d, p) := {δd · ΛT (R)Ce(u, R, d) (40)

V
+ δd · Ξ T (R)γ ω(u, R, d) − δdT p}dV = 0

δp · g(u, R, d, p) := {δpT d}dV = 0
V

In dynamics, displacement and rotation fields are functions of both space and time.
We use the separation of variables approach in order to construct the finite element
approximations of displacements and rotations


8 
8 
Nim
u(x, t) = NI (x)uI (t); w(x, t) = NI (x)wI (t); d(x, t) = ĜJ (x)αJ (t) (41)
I=1 I=1 J =1

The variational equations in (40) can now be rewritten as

  
T
r(u, R, d) = ρNT ü dV + B̂ s dV − NT f dV = 0
 V V V
T
h(u, R, d) = Ĝ s dV = 0 (42)
V

with the accelerations field ü interpolated in the same way as the compatible displacements
field. It is easy to see that the mass matrix will have constant entries and take the following
form

  T 
N ρN 0
M= dV (43)
V 0 0

We note that the zero masses associated to angular accelerations ẅ can prove trou-
blesome and affect computation stability in dynamic problems. In order to illustrate that
clearly, we consider the linearized form of equations of motion in (42)(1) for free vibration
case: Uexp(i ωt) and Wexp(i ωt), which leads to
     
1 K11 K12 U Mu 0 U
= (44)
ω K21 K22 W
2 0 0 W

This clearly shows by choosing: U = 0, W  = 0 that the presence of zero terms in the
mass matrix would require infinite frequencies, which is the ultimate case of stiff equations
[19] with all difficulties that will impose.
The simplest way to overcome this deficiency is by using the penalty method and intro-
ducing the mass matrix contribution of the rotational degrees of freedom through a kind
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 10 of 24

of regularization. This contribution is assigned to be equal to the ones coming from trans-
lational degrees of freedom, multiplied by a regularization parameter η which varies from
0 and 1. Finally, the regularized mass matrix can be written as

  
NT ρN 0
Mr = dV (45)
V 0 ηNT ρN

Newmark implicit time-stepping scheme

For nonlinear problems, the evolution of state variables is obtained by step-by-step inte-
gration schemes. To that end, the time interval of interest is partitioned into a number of
time steps (0 ≺ t1 ≺ t2 ≺ · · · ≺ tn ≺ tn+1 ≺ · · · ≺ T ). At a typical time tn , the values
of un and Rn are known. The corresponding values at time tn+1 are computed in each
step independently for single-step schemes, such as Newmark. For displacement vector
we have sample additive updates

(i+1) (i) (i)

un+1 = un+1 + Δun+1 (46)

(i)
where Δun+1 is the incremental displacement at each iteration (i). The rotation update
is somewhat more involved in that we have to choose between various possibilities of
parameters for rotation representation (e.g. see [15]). If the spatial representation is used,
we can carry out the rotation update as
 
(i+1)  θ (i)
Rn+1 = Λ
(i)
n + Δθ n+1 Rn (47)

(i)  corresponds
where Δθ n+1 is the incremental rotation vector at each iteration (i) and Λ(•)
to a direct representation of the orthogonal rotation tensor via the rotation vector.
The intrinsic representation of the finite rotations by an orthogonal tensor can be
reduced to a set of four quaternion parameters. The rotational update can be written
as
   
(i+1) (i+1)2 (i+1) (i+1) (i+1) (i+1)
Rn+1 = 2q(n+1)0 − 1 I3 + 2q0(n+1) qn+1 × I3 + 2qn+1 ⊗ qn+1 (48)

where

(i+1) (i) (i) (i) (i)

q0(n+1) = qw0(n+1) q0(n+1) − qw(n+1) .qn+1
(49)
(i+1) (i) (i) (i) (i) (i) (i)
qn+1 = qw0(n+1) qn+1 + q0(n+1) .qw(n+1) + qw(n+1) × qn+1

The quaternion parameters of the iterative rotation parameter of the orthogonal tensor
(i) (i)
{qw0(n+1) , qw(n+1) } above are given by

⎧ % (i) & ⎫
⎪
⎪ # $ sin Δwn+1 ⎪
⎪
  ⎨ (i)
Δwn+1 2 ⎬
(i) (i) (i)
qw0(n+1) , qw(n+1) = cos , w
⎪
⎪ 2 (i)
Δwn+1
n+1 ⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎭ (50)
 1
(i) (i) (i) 2
Δwn+1 = Δwn+1 .Δwn+1
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 11 of 24

where Δwn+1 is the axial vector of incremental rotation. Note that Δwn+1 and Δθ n+1 are
interconnected

Δwn+1 = T̃(θ n+1 )Δθ n+1 (51)

where

sinθ 1 − cosθ θ − sinθ

T̃(θ) := I+ Θ+ θ×θ
θ θ2 θ3

The scalar θ is the euclidean norm of θ and the tensor Θ is the shew-symmetric matrix
associated to θ.
In dynamics, besides computation of displacements and rotations, one also needs to
provide the values of velocities and accelerations at each time step. In what follows,
the Newmark time integration scheme is used. The linear velocity and acceleration are
advanced from time tn to tn+1 by using the standard Newmark approximations

u̇n+1 = u̇n + Δt((1 − γ )ün + γ ün+1 )

1 1 0.5 − β (52)
ün+1 = (un+1 − un ) − u̇n − ün
βΔt 2 βΔt β

where Δt is the time step while β and γ are the Newmark coefficients.
The Newmark implementation for finite rotations is a bit more laborious [20]. Here,
we follow previous works on 3D beams [15] with an extension of the standard Newmark
algorithm valid only for so-called spatial incremental rotation vector θ n+1 . We assume that
the angular velocity and acceleration, respectively ẇn+1 = ẇ(tn+1 ) and ẅn+1 = ẅ(tn+1 ),
can be provided by the Newmark approximations for finite rotations

* +
 n+1 ) γ
ẇn+1 = Λ(θ Δθ n+1 + ω̃n+1
βΔt
* + (53)
 n+1 ) 1
ẅn+1 = Λ(θ Δθ n+1 + α̃ n+1
βΔt 2

where ω̃n+1 and α̃n+1 are given by

β −γ β − 0.5γ
ω̃n+1 = ẇn + Δt ẅn
β β
(54)
1 0.5 − β
α̃n+1 =− ẇn − ẅn
βΔt β

From the proposed form of the Newmark approximations for both displacements and
rotations, we can compute the linearization of velocities and accelerations, providing
corresponding iterative updates. First, we can write for displacements

(i+1) (i) γ (i)

u̇n+1 = u̇n+1 + Δun+1
βΔt
(55)
(i+1) (i) 1 (i)
ün+1 = ün+1 + Δun+1
βΔt 2
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 12 of 24

Similarly, angular velocity and acceleration iterative updates are obtained using the itera-
tive incremental rotation vector

(i+1) (i) γ  (i) (i)

ẇn+1 = ẇn+1 + Λ(θ n+1 )Δθ n+1
βΔt
(56)
(i+1) (i) 1  (i) (i)
ẅn+1 = ẅn+1 + Λ(θ n+1 )Δθ n+1
βΔt 2

 is given by the exponential mapping formula of Rodrigues [15], written as

where Λ(•)

 = cos θI + sin θ Θ + 1 − cos θ θ × θ

Λ(θ)
θ θ2

By exploiting the relationship presented in (51), angular velocity and acceleration

updates become

γ  
T−T θ n+1 Δwn+1
(i+1) (i) (i) (i)
ẇn+1 = ẇn+1 +
βΔt
1   (57)
T−T θ n+1 Δwn+1
(i+1) (i) (i) (i)
ẅn+1 = ẅn+1 +
βΔt 2

where we use the result in [15], T−T (•) = Λ(•) T̃−1 (•).
It is interesting to note that the rotation updates in terms of incremental rotation vector
(i+1) (i) (i)
can be easily computed thanks to the additive procedure of updates, θ n+1 = θ n+1 +Δθ n+1 .
Moreover, velocity and acceleration updates in (55) and (57) have formally the same
structure for both linear and angular configurations which is the main advantage of the
proposed Newmark algorithm for finite rotation.
The linearized form of the equations of motion in dynamics is given as

 (i+1)   
1  Δun+1
(i+1)
Δun+1 T (i+1)
M −T (i+1) (i+1) + K (i+1) + F Δα̃n+1 = −R (58)
βΔt 2 T̃ θ n+1 Δwn+1 Δwn+1

where
 (i+1) 
1 Δu
M −T  (i+1) 
n+1
R=r+ (i+1) + h̄ (59)
βΔt 2 T̃ θ n+1 Δwn+1

#     $
1 un 1 u̇n 0.5 − β u¨n
h̄ = M + −T + −T
βΔt 2 0 βΔt T̃ (θ n+1 )ẇn+1 β T̃ (θ n+1 )ẅn+1

Numerical examples
Several numerical examples are presented in order to demonstrate a very satisfying per-
formance of the enhanced 3D solid element proposed herein. The presented simulation
results concern both static and dynamic problems. All the computations are performed
with a research version of the computer program FEAP, written by Prof. R.L. Taylor at
UC Berkeley [16].
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 13 of 24

Short cantilever beam in large compressive deformation: static problem

The first example presents a comparison between the proposed solid element and a stan-
dard solid element, which employs the Green–Lagrange strain measure. A single finite
element cantilever beam is subjected to large compression, by imposing the displacement
at one end while keeping the other end fixed (see Fig. 1). The material properties are
selected as: E = 2000 N/m2 and μ = 0. The imposed displacement (ux = −0.99) is
increased in 10 equal increments until practically reaching maximum possible compres-
sive strains.
The plots of the xx-component of the PiolaKirchhoff stress as function of stretch are
presented in Fig. 1 for both models. We can easily see that the zero stress value accompa-
nying maximum compressive strain for the Saint-Venant–Kirchhoff material cannot be
justified for any real material. In fact, a large compression must logically be accompanied
by a large value of stress which is shown, moreover, by the results of the proposed model.
The deficiency in representing very large compressive strains by the standard solid
element is due to the loss of convexity of the strain energy. However, this drawback of
violating poly-convexity conditions is easily repaired by the proposed element. For this, it
is useless to compare the proposed element to others solid element, which employ Green
Lagrange deformations measures.

Large deflection of a cantilever: static problem

In this second validation example, we consider the cantilever beam of Fig. 2 clamped at
one end and loaded, at the another, with four equal concentrated moments which add to
the total value of m = 0.01π Nm. The beam is modeled with 10 × 1 × 1 enhanced 3D
elements.

0.4

0.4

0 0

-5
-1
-10

-15
-2
-20

-25
-3
-30

-4 -35
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

a b
Fig. 1 Short cantilever beam in large compressive deformation; stress as function of stretch: a
Green–Lagrange strain measures, b Biot strain measures
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 14 of 24

Fig. 2 A cantilever beam subjected to an end moment modeled with regular mesh 10 × 1 × 1 and his
deformed shape

The exact rotation angle θ can be computed with the classical Euler formula based upon
the classical beam theory [10]: θ = m/EI. For the given value of the moment, geometric
and material proprieties the reference solution of the deformed shape is a semi circle.
The deformed shape is presented in Fig. 2, showing an excellent agreement with the
reference shape. The loading is applied in a single load step, and the solution is obtained
after 7 iterations, with a satisfying rate of convergence (see Table 1).

Circular arch under single load: static instability problem

The next example shows the efficient use of the proposed enhanced 3D solid element to
solve a geometric instability problem, first solved by 3D beam. We consider a circular
arch, hinged at one end and clamped at another, under a vertical point load in the middle.
The selected properties of the arch are given in Fig. 3a. The numerical solution is obtained
by a mesh having thirty 8-node enhanced elements.
The computation is performed with a time step Δt = 0.01 s and needs only 5 iterations
to converge. The corresponding result is also computed with the same number of 2-node
beam elements (see [10]). In Fig. 4, the load/displacement curves for both approximations
are given, indicating a very good agreement for two curves obtained with the different
finite element models.

Beam distortion by a solid plate: static problem

In order to show the compatibility of the proposed element with beam element, we propose
the following example. We consider a straight beam of length l = 4 m, aligned with the
z-axis. The finite element model of the beam consists of five 3D geometrically exact beam
elements. The mechanical properties of the beam are chosen as: EA = 100 N, GA = 50 N

Table 1 Convergence rates for the cantilever

Iter. no. Residual norm Energy norm
0 7.353 × 103 9.922 × 103
1 2.296 × 101 1.427 × 101
2 6.292 × 10−3 9.583 × 10−2
3 3.068 × 10−1 1.651 × 10−5
4 1.575 × 10−5 1.477 × 10−9
5 8.516 × 10−5 1.290 × 10−12
6 1.682 × 10−11 2.229 × 10−23
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 15 of 24

a b

Fig. 3 Finite element mesh of a clamped-hinged circular arch: a initial shape, b deformed shape

Fig. 4 Force-display diagram

and EI = 159 Nm2 . The finite element model employs 6 two-node beam elements. The
lower end of the beam is fixed, while a square plate is attached at the other end in the
center c as shown in Fig. 5. The plate is composed of four proposed solid elements with
E = 5000 N/m2 and ν = 0. The beam is subjected to a torque through the external forces
applied to the four corners of the plate. The direction of forces is given in Fig. 5. The total
moment at point c, provided by the forces Fi=1,4 is calculated as Mτ = 4a × F . The angle
of twist can be found by using the following formula

Mτ l
θ=
GI

where G is the shear modulus. For the chosen characteristics (Fi=1,4 = 3.9 N), the value
of the angle of twist is Π /4. The computation is performed in 10 increments of Δt = 0.1
s. The numerical solution corresponds perfectly to the analytical solution: the rotation θ6
at node c is equal to 0.78541 ≈ Π /4.
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 16 of 24

Fig. 5 Beam distortion by a solid plate

Free vibration analysis: dynamic problem

For the dynamics part, the first example is proposed for free vibration analysis. For a
cantilever beam fixed at one end, we are concerned with the identification of natural
frequencies and mode shapes. This beam is modeled with 10×1×1 enhanced 3D elements
(Fig. 6).
Table 2 gives the natural frequencies of the first ten modes, sorted in increasing order
for both enhanced solid element and standard beam element. The results reveal that solid
element detects mode shapes of distortion which are unseen by the beam element. We can
also see that the natural frequency values of both elements correspond well to each other.
Duplicated frequencies are justified by the fact that each bending mode in y direction has
a similar bending mode in z direction.
The mode shapes obtained with mesh of elements are presented in Fig. 7. Compared
to the standard beam element, the proposed element is capable of taking into account
sectional changes as showing in the mode shapes 3 and 6. In order to captive that in the case
of beam, one needs higher order geometrically-exact beam models [21,22], incorporating
in-plane cross sectional changes and out-plane warping by adding supplementary degrees

Fig. 6 10 elements mesh for the cantilever beam fixed at one end

Table 2 Natural frequencies of the first ten modes for the cantilever beam
Mode Natural frequencies
Enhanced solid element Beam element
1 − 2 (bending) 4.97 × 10−2 5.08 × 10−2
3 (torsion) 2.16 × 10−1 –
4 − 5 (bending) 2.75 × 10−1 3.19 × 10−1
6 (torsion) 6.54 × 10−1 –
7 − 8 (bending) 6.71 × 10−1 7.80 × 10−1
9 (axial) 7.90 × 10−1 7.91 × 10−1
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 17 of 24

Fig. 7 Mode shapes of the cantilever beam obtained with the proposed solid element

of freedom. Here, the difficulty lies in the choice of distortion and warping functions
which depend on the geometry of the structures and the need for a post-treatment to get
the final results and sketch out the deformed shapes. However, with the proposed solid
element, the result could be obtained directly for any shape.

Cantilever beam subjected to end shear force: dynamic problem

In the second version of the same test, we keep all the data the same as in the first version,
except that we change the loading proprieties. First, the beam is subjected to four vertical
forces at the free end. Each force has a weak amplitude (f = 0.001 N) in order to assimilate
linear behavior and a sinusoidal time variation with the frequency ω = 3.12413236 × 10−1
rad/s, which is the first natural frequency in the initial configuration.
The vertical displacement under force applied at the free end is presented in Fig. 8. The
resonance condition is satisfied and the dynamic response presents rapidly increasing as
expected.
We have proposed two alternatives to define the mass matrix. In order to compare
these possibilities, we examine the bending problem of a cantilever beam under four
concentrated forces applied at its free ends. The proprieties of the beam are maintained
as before (Fig. 6). At each node, the applied force is a triangular pulse, linearly increasing
for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 to attain the maximum value F = 0.5 N, then decreasing for 1 ≤ t ≤ 3 to
−F and finally increasing again for 3 ≤ t ≤ 4 to return to 0 at t = 6. The computations
are carried out with the time step Δt = 0.1 s. Time histories for the free end displacement

Fig. 8 Vertical displacement in the free end of the cantilever beam under force: resonance
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 18 of 24

components for the different configurations are given in Fig. 9. We note that the amplitude
of vibration is of the same order as the total sum of the applied forces.The obtained results
show a good agreement between the geometrically exact beam and 3D enhanced solid
elements. The beam reference response is very close to the response of the 3D solid, with
somewhat greater accuracy in the case of the incomplete mass matrix (neglecting the
rotation inertia) regarding the dominant response frequencies.
Despite better accuracy of computed response, the presence of a zero matrix block
associated with rotation degrees of freedom is the source of major difficulty in the compu-
tational treatment of such problem over a very long interval of time. In order to illustrate
this, we increase the amplitude of the loading to F = 2 N and we perform the computation
of the fields of displacement over a longer interval in time. The time step is selected as
Δt = 0.1 for both configurations. The dynamic response for displacement at the free end
is plotted in Fig. 10. First, we note high oscillations in the computed displacement which
are obtained by the Newmark scheme. Moreover, the configuration using the standard
mass matrix can no longer converge for time exceeding T = 81.3. However, with a regu-
larized mass matrix, the residual remains sufficiently small to ensure the convergence for
substantially longer period.

Fig. 9 Free-end displacement component in the direction of the applied force

Fig. 10 Free-end displacement component in the direction of the applied force over a large time interval
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 19 of 24

Adding terms in the mass matrix associated to the rotational degrees of freedom ensures
a satisfying performance of the proposed element in computations over very long time
interval. However, this implies additional computation operations corresponding to the
angular accelerations.

Large scale wind turbine: dynamic problem

For the last example, we consider a dynamic analysis for a model of wind turbine with
flexible blades. We choose to make simpler blade design, since our first objective is to
check the efficiency of the proposed approach to handle numerically the structure behavior
under large overall motion without getting into too much details of shape optimal design.
The turbine consists of three blades with a length of 50 m. Each blade is modeled
with the proposed enhanced 3D solid. The revolute joint, providing connectivity between
blades, is defined with two rigid bodies [23]. The interaction between flexible and rigid
components doesn’t need any special requirements given that the rotational degrees of
freedom appear in the rigid body formulation for the large displacement in a non-linear
form [23]. The tower, which is 85 meters tall and with circular cross section, is modeled
with geometrically exact beam [24] (see Fig. 11). The wind turbine blades are subjected to
a uniform distributed load using follower pressure approach (see Appendix II). The blades
facets where the loading is applied are defined with 4 nodes two-dimensional elements
that belong to the boundaries of the three-dimensional 8 nodes brick elements of the
blades. We choose an amplitude of the follower pressure p = 360 N/m2 , equivalent to an
average wind speed 60 km/h (see Appendix II for special treatment of follower pressure
loads). The pressure function p is presented in Fig. 11.
The chosen material and geometric characteristics are presented in Fig. 11. The com-
putations are carried out with the constant time step Δt = 0.2. The number of iterations
per step doesn’t exceed 20, showing rather robust convergence with regard to multi-finite
elements used in the same structure.
The proposed element describes properly the rotational motion of the wind turbine. For
a long time period, we start observing a large deformation related to a combined bending
and twisting motion which causes premature damage of the turbine. This demonstrates
the usefulness of the proposed solid element with respect to the geometrically exact beam
element for this kind of modeling. Namely, beam formulation is based on the rigid cross-
section assumption, which can not captive such damage phenomena.

Fig. 11 Wind turbine model example

Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 20 of 24

The tower is submitted to large bending, involving harmful effect on the wind turbine
stability which may be even more pronounced for large scale structures in offshore envi-
ronments. In order to overcome this problem, we introduce pre-stressed cables connecting
the wind tower to the support (see Fig. 12). The finite element approach for computing
cable structure undergoing large displacement is coded for non linear analysis, based on
the previous work [25].
The cross-section area of the cable used here is A = 0.018 m2 and the mass density
is ρ = 0.1 kg/m3 . The undeformed cable configuration is straight line, with an initial
pre-tension stress S0 = 800 N/m2 . The Saint Venant material model is adopted E =
2 × 107 N/m2 . We increase the pressure amplitude to 900.
The time histories of the horizontal displacement at the top of the tower for both con-
figurations, with or without cables, are plotted in Fig. 13. We note that tower’s deflection
is reduced, on average, by half when cables are added. Hence, the proposed solution com-
bines robustness and low weight to improve the stability of the wind turbine without
increasing costs.

Closing remarks
In this paper, we have discussed the regularized variational formulation for 3D solid
element with the incompatible mode method to analyze geometrically nonlinear problems
in statics and dynamics. The statics formulation is follow up of our previous works limited

Fig. 12 Cables effect on the bending of the tower: geometry of structure

Fig. 13 Cables effect on the bending of the tower: horizontal displacement of the free end tower
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 21 of 24

only to 2D statics [18,26]. The main novelty is the generalization of the formulation as well
as the finite element implementation to framework of 3D nonlinear dynamic problems.
In particular, the mass matrix is defined from a simple quadratic form of the kinetic
energy as opposed to the co-rotational formulation and the floating frame formulation
used by the others authors. Moreover, a regularized form of the mass matrix is proposed
in order to ensure high computational performance without adding complexity. It is
important that the regularized mass matrix ensures a good performance by being able to
avoid infinite frequencies, and thus facilitating the convergence of the Newmark implicit
scheme. Further gain in computational efficiency, which is worth to note, is brought about
by the operator split methodology reducing the computation of the the final value of the
incompatible mode parameters to a single iteration.
It is interesting to note that the proposed elements with rotational degrees of freedom
can be easily combined with geometrically exact beam models and can also be efficient
in the nonlinear dynamic analysis of thick plates and shells [9]. This enables a smooth
transition between solid and structural elements. Moreover, they are constructed to allow
in plane cross-sectional changes as well as out of plane cross-sectional warping.
In order to reduce the impact of zero masses associated to the rotational degrees of
freedom, besides of a simple regularization of the mass matrix, another alternative seems
more relevant by controlling the dissipation of high frequency modes contribution as
proposed for beam case in [19,27] .
Abbreviations
u: standard displacement vector; ∇u: standard displacement gradient; α: enhanced displacement vector; d: enhanced
displacement gradient; D: total displacement gradient; {u̇, ü}: linear velocities and accelerations; R: rotation tensor; w:
axial vector of rotation tensor; {ẇ, ẅ}: angular velocities ans accelerations; θ: rotation vector; W: skew-symmetric tensor of
the rotation vector; {q0 , q}: set of of quaternions represented the orthogonal tensor R; f: external load; F: deformation
gradient; H: Biot strain measures; T: Biot stress tensor; P: non-symmetric Piola–Kirchhoff stress; V: isoparametric volume;
Ω: isoparametric domain of surface of follower pressure; Π: potential energy of the follower pressure; t: follower pressure

boundary; Λ(•): exponential mapping formula of Rodrigues; C: elasticity tensor; γ : regularization parameter of the
variational formulation; η: regularization parameter of the inertia contribution of rotation degrees of freedom.

Authors’ contributions
Conception of the work, analysis and interpretation: AB and AI. Drafting of the paper: AB. Critical revision and final
approval of the version to be published: AI. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author details
1
Laboratoire Roberval de Mécanique, Centre de Recherches de Royallieu, Sorbonne Universités, Université de
Technologie de Compiègne, CS 60319, 60200 Compiègne Cedex, France, 2 Laboratoire Roberval de Mécanique, Chair of
Computational Mechanics, Chaire de Mécanique PICRDIE, Centre de Recherches de Royallieu, Sorbonne Universités,
Université de Technologie de Compiègne, CS 60319, 60200 Compiègne Cedex, France.

Competing interests
Both authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Ethics approval
Not applicable.

Fundings
This work was supported by French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, as well as the Chair of Mechanics of
PICRDIE Funding and the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF). This support is gratefully acknowledged.
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 22 of 24

Appendix I: Incompatible mode operator split

The operator split used for computing incompatible modes for both statics and dynamics
is outlined briefly for present 3D case, for more details in 2D case see [18].
The operator split method [28] can be used to construct a very efficient solution proce-
dure, since the computation of the incompatible mode parameters α is separated from the
solution for large rotations R, being reduced to linear problem. Namely, for fixed values
of u and R, we compute from (37)(2)
  
T
HΔα̂ = h; H = Ĝ ΛT CΛ + Ξ T γ Ξ Ĝ dV (60)
V

A single iteration is sufficient to recover the final value of the incompatible mode param-
eters, denoted as α̂.
We then proceed to linearize the system in (37) for the fixed values of α̂,

KΔa + FT Δα̂ = −r
(61)
FΔa + HΔα̂ = 0

where the element stiffness matrix K is

K = K m + Kg
     
T 0 BT ST N
Km = B̂ ΛT CΛ + Ξ T γ Ξ B̂ dV; Kg = dV
V V NT SB NT AN
(62)
S = [S1 , S2 , S3 ]; Si = Υ (si ); sT = [sT1 , sT2 , sT3 ]
3 * +
1
A= {si ⊗ (yi (u) + di ) + (yi (u) + di ) ⊗ si } − (si · (yi (u) + di ))I3
2
i=1

and the coupling matrix F is

   
T T T
F= Ĝ Λ CΛ + Ξ γ Ξ B̂ dV + Ĝ PT N dV (63)
V V

The operator split procedure remains the same for dynamics, equivalent to static con-
densation [29].

Appendix II: Follower pressure loading

The follower pressure loading is normal loading to a facette of 3D solid element. In the
current configuration, the pressure follows the normal, thus the name follower loads.
The pressure boundary could be written as: t = pn on ϕ(∂Vp ), where p is a given
pressure function and n is unit normal field. A new term describing this loading condition
appears only in the variational equation (29)(1)

δa · r(u, R, d) = {δe · Ce(u, R, d) + δω · γ ω(u, R, d)}
V
 
− δu.f dV − p n · δu ds = 0 (64)
V ϕ(∂Vp )
, -. /
Π
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 23 of 24

The finite element implementation of the follower pressure loading relies on the finite
element parametrization of the moving surface ϕ(∂ϑp ) (see [30] for 2D axisymmetric
case). The corresponding mapping is constructed in two steps, first from the isoparametric
domain Ω to the initial configuration by Γ and then to the deformed configuration by ϕ,
we can write

Π (ϕ, δu) = p (γ ,1 × γ ,2 ) · δu ◦ γ dξ1 dξ2 (65)
Ω

By using the consistent linearization of Π , we obtain


δΠ(ϕ, δu) = p (δu ◦ γ) · ((ς ◦ γ),1 × γ ,2 + γ ,1 × (ς ◦ γ),2 ) dξ1 dξ2 (66)
Ω

where ς is an arbitrary admissible variation of ϕ, such as ϕα = ϕ + α ς ◦ ϕ.

The current position of the boundary surface is approximated as follows


4
γ= NJ (ξ1 , ξ2 , −1)xJ = N∗ x (67)
J =1

where xJ is the position of the updated nodes.

With these results on hand, we can compute the modifications to residual and stiffness
matrix for our 3D solid element associated to the follower pressure loading,

 
4 
4 
rp = p N∗ NI (ξ1 , ξ2 , −1)NJ (ξ1 , ξ2 , −1)xJ × xJ dξ1 dξ2
Ω I=1 J =1
 (68)
4 
 ∂NJ ∂NI ∂NJ ∂NI 
Kp = p N∗ qT dξ1 dξ2 ; q(I) = − Υ (xI )
Ω ∂ξ1 ∂ξ2 ∂ξ2 ∂ξ1
J =1

Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Received: 20 March 2017 Accepted: 2 August 2017

References
1. Doherty WP, Wilson EL, Taylor RL, Ghaboussi J. Numerical and computer methods in structural mechanics. In: Fenves
SJ, Perrone N, Robinson AR, Schnobrich WC, editors. Incompatible displacement models. New York: Academic Press;
1973. p. 43–57.
2. Wilson EL, Ibrahimbegovic A. Use of incompatible displacement modes for the calculation of element stiffnesses or
stresses. Finite Elem Anal Design. 1990;7:229–41.
3. Armero F, Simo JC, Taylor RL. Improved versions of assumed enhanced strain tri-linear elements for 3d finite
deformation problems. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 1993;110:359–86.
4. Klinkel S, Wagner W. A geometrical nonlinear brick element based on the eas method. Int J Numer Methods Eng.
1997;3:4529–45.
5. Juan C, Simo JC, Rifai MS. A class of mixed assumed strain methods and the method of incompatible modes. Int J
Numer Methods Eng. 1990;29(8):1595–638.
6. Radovitzky RA, Dvorkin E. A 3d element for nonlinear analysis of solids. Communi Numer Methods Eng.
1994;10:183–94.
7. Sedita L, Meftah K, Zouari W, Ayad R. Geometric non-linear hexahedral elements with rotational dofs. Comput Struct.
2016;57:37–53.
8. Pawlak TP, Yunu SM, Cook D. Solid elements with rotational degrees of freedom: part 1-hexahedron elements. Int J
Numer Methods Eng. 1991;31:573–92.
9. Ibrahimbegovic A. Stress resultant geometrically nonlinear shell theory with drilling rotations-part i. a consistent
formulation. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 1995;118:265–84.
Boujelben and Ibrahimbegovic Adv. Model. and Simul. in Eng. Sci.(2017)4:3 Page 24 of 24

10. Ibrahimbegovic A. On finite element implementation of geometrically nonlinear reissner’s beam theory:
three-dimensional curved beam elements. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 1995;122:11–26.
11. Biot MA. Mechanics of incremental deformations. London: Wiley; 1965.
12. Gurtin M. An introduction to continuum mechanics. NewYork: Academic Press; 1981.
13. Ibrahimbegovic A. Nonlinear solid mechanics: theoretical formulations and finite element solution methods. New
York: Springer Science and Business Media; 2009.
14. Hughes TJR, Brezzi F. On drilling degrees of freedom. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 1989;72:105–21.
15. Ibrahimbegovic A. On the choice of finite rotation parameters. Int J Numer Methods Eng. 1997;149:49–71.
16. Zienkiewicz OC, Taylor RL. The finite element method: basic formulation and linear problems, vol. I. Maidenhead:
McGraw-Hill; 1989.
17. Ibrahimbegovic A, Wilson EL. A modified method of incompatible modes. Commun Appl Numer Methods.
1991;7:845–67.
18. Ibrahimbegovic A, Frey F. Geometrically non-linear method of incompatible modes in application to finite elasticity
with independent rotations. Int J Numer Methods Eng. 1993;36:4185–200.
19. Ibrahimbegovic A, Mamouri S. Nonlinear dynamics of flexible beams in planar motion: formulation and
time-stepping scheme for stiff problems. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 1999;191:4241–58.
20. Ibrahimbegovic A, Mikdad MA. Mikdad. Finite rotations in dynamics of beams and implicit time-stepping schemes.
Int J Numer Methods Eng. 1998;41:781–814.
21. Pimenta PM, Campello EMB. A fully nonlinear multi-parameter rod model incorporating general cross-sectional
in-plane changes and out-of-plane warping. Latin Am J Solids Struct. 2003;1:119–40.
22. Yoon K, Lee PS. Nonlinear performance of continuum mechanics based beam elements focusing on large twisting
behaviors. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 2014;281:106130.
23. Taylor RL, Ibrahimbegovic A, Lim H. Non-linear dynamics of flexible multibody systems, computers and structures.
Comput Struct. 2003;81:11131132.
24. Simo JC, Vu-Quoc L. A three-dimensional finite strain rod model. Part ii: geometric and computational aspects.
Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng. 1986;58:79–116.
25. Ibrahimbegovic A. Consistent finite element formulation of non-linear elastic cables. Commun Appl Numer
Methods. 1992;8:547–56.
26. Ibrahimbegovic A, Frey F. Membrane quadrilateral finite elements with rotational degrees of freedom. Eng Fract
Mech. 1992;43:547–56.
27. Ibrahimbegovic A, Mamouri S. Energy conserving/decaying implicit time-stepping scheme for nonlinear dynamics
of three-dimensional beams undergoing finite rotations. Comput Struct. 2002;70:1–22.
28. McCracken MF, Chorin AJ, Hughes TJR, Marsden JE. Product formulas and numerical algorithms. Commun Pure Appl
Math. 1978;31:205–56.
29. Wilson EL. The static condensation algorithmic. Int J Numer Methods Eng. 1974;8:198–203.
30. Taylor RL, Simo JC, Wriggers P. A note on finite-element implementation of pressure boundary loading. Commun
Appl Numer Methods. 1991;7:513–25.