Structural Engineering and Mechanics

Volume 59, Number 6, 2016, pages 1071-1094

DOI: 10.12989/sem.2016.59.6.1071

Problem-dependent cubic linked interpolation for Mindlin plate four-node quadrilateral finite elements

Dragan Ribarić

Abstract

We employ the so-called problem-dependent linked interpolation concept to develop two cubic 4-node quadrilateral plate finite elements with 12 external degrees of freedom that pass the constant bending patch test for arbitrary node positions of which the second element has five additional internal degrees of freedom to get polynomial completeness of the cubic form. The new elements are compared to the existing linked-interpolation quadratic and nine-node cubic elements presented by the author earlier and to the other elements from literature that use the cubic linked interpolation by testing them on several benchmark examples.

Key Words

Mindlin plate theory; quadrilateral displacement-based plate finite elements; problemindependent and problem-dependent linked interpolation

Address

Dragan Ribarić : Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka, R. Matejčić 3, 51000 Rijeka, Republic of Croatia