Higher-order, mixed-hybrid finite elements for Kirchhoff-Love shells

A novel mixed-hybrid method for Kirchhoff-Love shells is proposed that enables the use of classical, possibly higher-order Lagrange elements in numerical analyses. In contrast to purely displacement-based formulations that require higher continuity of shape functions as in IGA, the mixed formulation features displacements and moments as primary unknowns. Thereby the continuity requirements are reduced, allowing equal-order interpolations of the displacements and moments. Hybridization enables an element-wise static condensation of the degrees of freedom related to the moments, at the price of introducing (significantly less) rotational degrees of freedom acting as Lagrange multipliers to weakly enforce the continuity of tangential moments along element edges. The mixed model is formulated coordinate-free based on the Tangential Differential Calculus, making it applicable for explicitly and implicitly defined shell geometries. All mechanically relevant boundary conditions are considered. Numerical results confirm optimal higher-order convergence rates whenever the mechanical setup allows for sufficiently smooth solutions; new benchmark test cases of this type are proposed.