Strain-smoothed polygonal finite elements

Herein, we present effective polygonal finite elements to which the strain-smoothed element (SSE) method is applied. Recently, the SSE method has been developed for conventional triangular and quadrilateral finite elements; furthermore, it has been shown to improve the performance of finite elements. Polygonal elements enable various applications through flexible mesh handling; however, further development is still required to use them more effectively in engineering practice. In this study, piecewise linear shape functions are adopted, the SSE method is applied through the triangulation of polygonal elements, and a smoothed strain field is constructed within the element. The strain-smoothed polygonal elements pass basic tests and show improved convergence behaviors in various numerical problems.