Abstract

Numerical integration errors and volumetric locking in the near-incompressible limit are two outstanding issues in Galerkin-based meshfree computations. In this paper, we present a modified Gaussian integration scheme on background cells for meshfree methods that alleviates errors in numerical integration and ensures patch test satisfaction to machine precision. Secondly, a locking-free small-strain elasticity formulation for meshfree methods is proposed, which draws on developments in assumed strain methods and nodal integration techniques. In this study, maximum-entropy basis functions are used: however, the generality of our approach permits the use of any meshfree approximation. Various benchmark problems in two-dimensional compressible and near-incompressible small strain elasticity are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and optimal convergence in the energy norm of the maximum-entropy meshfree formulation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.