This paper on "Performance of Transition Meshes" was presented at the International Conference on Quality Assurance and Standards in Finite Element Analysis - 22-25 May 1989, Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Summary

This paper describes the results of an investigation into the stress errors occurring over typical transition meshes, taking into account both the influence of element distortion and the nature of the loading. Included along with the more conventional transitions is a mesh incorporating constraint equations. The meshes were tested over a comprehensive set of loading cases for which both the exact deflection and stress fields are known. Algebraic computing techniques were used to establish analytical expressions for the error in stresses throughout the meshes. This algebraic approach, when coupled with the exact stress fields, provided an accurate method of measuring the errors in the various meshes and consequently allowed a comparison to be made of the performance of the different meshes. The performance of the mesh incorporating constraint equations compared favourably with the other meshes.