Solid Elements with Rotational Degree of Freedom for Grand Rotation Problems in LS-DYNA

The goal of this paper is to further enhance the solid elements with rotational degree of freedom (DOF). Three- dimensional finite elements with rotational degree of freedom have been proposed elsewhere, however, these elements are restricted to linear analysis. In this paper, by improving the mid-side node velocity update algorithm, we enhance the elements performance. Numerical results are presented, showing that the enhanced elements are capable of dealing with grand rotation problem. The enhanced formulation has been implemented into LS-DYNA® for solid element 3 and solid element 4.