High-order quasi-conforming triangular Reissner-Mindlin plate element

Abstract

Purpose

A higher-order Reissner-Mindlin plate element method is presented based on the framework of assumed stress quasi-conforming method and Hellinger-Reissner variational principle. A novel six-node triangular plate element is proposed by utilizing this method for the static and free vibration analysis of Reissner-Mindlin plates.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the initial assumed stress field is derived by using the fundamental analytical solutions which satisfy all governing equations. Then the stress matrix is treated as the weighted function to weaken the strain-displacement equations after the strains are derived by using the constitutive equations. Finally, the arbitrary order Timoshenko beam function is adopted as the string-net functions along each side of the element for strain integration.

Findings

The proposed element can pass patch test and is free from shear locking and spurious zero energy modes. Numerical tests show that the element can give high-accurate solutions, good convergence and is a good competitor to other models.

Originality/value

This work gives new formulations to develop high-order Reissner-Mindlin plate element, and the new strategy exhibits advantages of both analytical and discrete methods.

Citation

Wang, C., Sun, X., Zhang, X. and Hu, P. (2018), "High-order quasi-conforming triangular Reissner-Mindlin plate element", Engineering Computations, Vol. 35 No. 8, pp. 2722-2752. https://doi.org/10.1108/EC-11-2017-0446