Abstract: In Finite Element Method, the connection between plate shell elements and solid elements needs special treatment, and their meshes at the connection must be matched, which brings some inconveniences. In our previous research, the piecewise-defined series solutions for the numerical analysis of beam, plate and shell are proposed by using manifold method based on independent covers. On this basis, the rigid connection between plate shell elements and solid elements is studied in this paper. The solid calculation mode is also adopted in the analysis of plate and shell which are naturally connected with the solid element through the overlapping area of the covers. In view of the characteristic of arbitrary connection of independent covers, the plate or the shell is inserted into the solid to form the overlapping area of the covers. The solid and the shell can be meshed separately in no need of mesh matching at the connection, which is very conducive to the preprocessing work. Highly precise results can be obtained when the mesh division reaches a certain density. The effectiveness of the method is verified by examples of a cantilever beam with variable sections, and a spherical shell with a solid base. The accurate geometry of the intersection curve between the curved shell and the solid is also preliminarily demonstrated. The three-dimensional elastic matrix of the new method is also modified.

Key words: beam, plate and shell analysis, connection between plate shell and solid element, series solutions, numerical manifold method, independent covers