A Strut Finite Element for Exact Incompressible Isotropic Hyperelastic Analysis

This text describes a mathematical model of a strut finite element for isotropic incompressible hyperelastic materials. The invariants of the Right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor are written in terms of nodal displacements. The equilibrium problem is formulated as an unconstrained nonlinear programming problem, where the objective function is the total potential energy of the structure and the nodal displacements are the unknowns. The constraint for incompressibility is satisfied exactly, thereby eliminating the need for a penalty function. The results of the examples calculated by the proposed mathematical model show five significant digits in agreement when compared with commercial finite element analysis software.