THREE DIMENSIONAL 2-DIRECTION & 3-DIRECTION MAPPED INFINITE ELEMENTS

Differing from conventional single-directional mapped infinite elements, this paper presents a new type of multi-directional mapped infinite elements which extend to infinite in two or three directions. These elements not only can be coupled to 3-D isoparamteric finite elements, but also have many advantages, such as explicit physical concept, little node number, high precision, unnecessarily changing element shape, and convenient to automatic mesh discretization. They can be extensively used in the field of geotechnical engineering, engineering mechanics and so on.