A hybrid 8-node hexahedral element for static and free vibration analysis

An 8 node assumed stress hexahedral element with rotational degrees of freedom is proposed for static and free vibration analyses. The element formulation is based directly on an 8-node element. This direct formulation requires fewer computations than a similar element that is derived from an internal 20-node element in which the midside degrees of freedom are eliminated by expressing them in terms of displacements and rotations at corner nodes. The formulation is based on Hellinger-Reissner variational principle. Numerical examples are presented to show the validity and efficiency of the present element for static and free vibration analysis.