Errors of stress numerical integration for cross-sections with straight and curved boundaries

Internal forces are integrals of stress in a section area. Integrating the stress for an arbitrary cross-section shape and for the nonlinear stress-strain law σ(ε) is tedious and the use of the boundary integral approach can simplify computations. Numerical integration when applied to the computations of such integrals introduces errors in many cases. Errors of numerical integration depend on the adopted integration scheme, the type of σ(ε) and the shape of the cross-section boundary. In the case of adaptive numerical integration what is very important are the properties of the sequence of errors produced by a given integration scheme in the increasing order of the numerical quadrature or the increasing number of subdivisions. This paper analyses errors caused by different integration schemes for the typical σ(ε) either for a straight or curved boundary. Special attention is paid to the properties of the error sequence in each case. The outcome of this paper is important from the viewpoint of the reliability and robustness of the software developed for nonlinear simulations of bar structures.