Geometrically nonlinear analysis of rectangular mindlin plates using the finite strip method

A general finite strip method of analysis is presented for the geometrically nonlinear analysis of laterally loaded, rectangular, isotropic plates. The analysis is based on the use of Mindlin plate theory and therefore includes the effects of transverse shear deformation. The nonlinearity is introduced via the strain-displacement equations and correspondingly the analysis pertains to problems involving moderate displacements but small rotations. The principle of minimum potential energy is used in the development of the strip and the complete plate stiffness equations and the latter equations are solved using the Newton-Raphson method. In numerical applications a particular type of finite strip is used in which all five reference quantities (three displacements and two rotations) are represented by cubic polynomial interpolation across the strip whilst the ends of the strip are simply supported for bending/shearing behaviour and immovable for membrane behaviour. These applications are concerned with uniformly loaded plates of both thin and moderately-thick geometry and detailed presentation is given of both displacement- and force-type quantities.     

Geometric nonlinear analysis of stiffened plates by the spline finite strip method

Geometric nonlinear analysis of stiffened plates is investigated by the spline finite strip method. von Karman’s nonlinear plate theory is adopted and the formulation is made in total Lagrangian coordinate system. The resulting nonlinear equations are solved by the Newton–Raphson iteration technique. To analyse plates having any arbitrary shapes, the whole plate is mapped into a square domain. The mapped domain is discretised into a number of strips. In this method, the displacement interpolation functions used are: the spline functions in the longitudinal direction of the strip and the finite element shape functions in the other direction. The stiffener is elegantly modelled so that it can be placed anywhere within the plate strip. The arbitrary orientation of the stiffener and its eccentricity are incorporated in the formulation. All these aspects have ultimately made the proposed approach a most versatile tool of analysis. Plates and stiffened plates are analysed and the results are presented along with those of other investigators for necessary comparison and discussion.     

Buckling of initially stressed mindlin plates using a finite strip method

The buckling of initially stressed Mindlin plates is considered using a thick finite strip method. The method is compared with a wide variety of published results and for both thin and moderately thick plates excellent accuracy is obtained. Some further results are obtained for initially stressed rectangular plates with two opposite edges simply supported and various support conditions on the remaining sides. In general, it is found that for moderately thick plates, Mindlin's plate theory gives lower buckling loads than those obtained using classical thin plate theory.     

Geometrically nonlinear analysis of a Reissner type plate by the boundary element method

The boundary element method is used in the geometrically nonlinear analysis of laterally loaded isotropic plates taking into account the effects of transverse shear deformation. This paper presents the general equations for finite deformation of a Reissner type plate, and also gives an integral formulation of the Von Kármán type nonlinear governing equations which involve coupling between in-plane and out-of-plane deformation. The boundary and the domain of the plate are discretized to solve nonlinear plate bending problems. All unknown variables are at the boundary. An iterative procedure is applied to achieve linearization of the nonlinear equations. Some numerical results of the computation are compared with the analytical solutions and other numerical techniques, and good agreement is obtained.     

Stability analysis of skew orthotropic plates by the finite strip method

A stability analysis based on the Finite Strip Method is presented for skew orthotropic plates subjected to in-plane loadings. The straight sides of the plate are simply supported and the other two skewed sides are supported with any combination of fixed, free and simply supported boundaries. The plate is divided into strips, in contradistinction to elements in the Finite Element Method, and the displacement function is so chosen that it satisfies the boundary conditions and also the inter-strip compatibility conditions of an elemental strip. The energy expressions required to formulate the stiffness and stability coefficient matrices are formulated using smalldeflection theory. The buckling load intensity factor is evaluated for different aspect ratios of isotropic and orthotropic skew plates and the results of certain rectangular isotropic cases are compared with earlier investigations.     

Stability analysis of anisotropic laminated composite plates by finite strip method

The finite strip method has been applied to the stability analysis of rectangular shear-deformable composite laminates. However, for the plates with two opposite simply supported sides, the existing analysis was restricted to the symmetrical cross-ply laminates under compression loading.In the present study, by selecting proper displacement functions and including the coupling between different series terms, the finite strip method is extended to the stability analysis of any anisotropic laminated plates under arbitrary in-plane loading. Furthermore, a number of numerical results are presented to show the effects of thickness, fibre orientation and stacking sequence on the buckling loads.     

Three-dimensional finite strip analysis of laminated panels

In this paper, a combined finite strip and state space approach is introduced to obtain three-dimensional solutions of laminated composite plates with simply supported ends. The finite strip method is used to present in-plane displacement and stress components, while the through-thickness components are obtained by using the method of state equation. The method can replace the traditional three-dimensional finite element solutions for structures that have regular geometric plans and simple boundary conditions, where a full three-dimensional finite element analysis is very often both extravagant and unnecessary. The new method provides results that show good agreement with available benchmark problems having different material compositions, thickness and boundary conditions. The new method provides a three-dimensional solution for laminated plates, while the advantages of using the traditional finite strip method are fully taken. This solution also yields a continuous transverse stress field across material interfaces that normally is not achievable by other numerical modelling of laminates, such as the traditional finite element method.     

Elasto-plastic response of uniformly loaded sector plates: full-section yield model predictions and spread of plasticity

The governing equations for an elasto-plastic large deflection analysis of pressure loaded sector plates, based on the Ilyushin full-section yield criterion and the flow theory of plasticity, are presented. An outline of the solution of these equations using a finite difference implementation of the dynamic relaxation algorithm is given. Numerical results are presented for uniformly loaded slender and stocky sector plates with a 60° sector angle. In particular, first yield data are presented as well as the results of two parameter studies. The first study shows the effects of flexural and in-plane edge conditions on the deflections and stress resultants/couples at the centre of the sector plate and the second contrasts the spread of plasticity in slender sector plates with simply supported and clamped in-plane fixed edges.     

Vibration analysis of rectangular mindlin plates by the finite strip method

A finite strip analysis of the vibration of rectangular Mindlin plates with general boundary conditions is described. The normal modes of vibration of Timoshenko beams are used to represent the spatial variation along a strip of the deflection and the two cross-sectional rotations. For the crosswise representation equal-order polynomial interpolation is employed for each of these three basic quantities. The accuracy of the approach is demonstrated by the results of a number of applications to square plates with combinations of simply supported, clamped and free edges.     

Post-buckling behavior of thin steel plates using computational models

Thin plates loaded in plane will buckle at very small loads, and due to unavoidable out-of-plane imperfections, the theoretical buckling load cannot be observed experimentally. If the plate is adequately supported along its boundaries, it will be able to carry a much higher load than the theoretical buckling load.Computational models can be used to study the post buckling behaviour of thin plate structures up to failure. Failure of such structures is usually due to large out-of-plane deflections, yielding, and rupture. Therefore, the computational model should include the effects of geometric and material nonlinearities. In this paper, the nonlinear finite element analysis program NONSAP and ANSR-III were modified and used in the analysis. Since these programs did not include the suitable elements and material properties to conduct the subject study, new elements and new material properties were added to the programs. In particular, a thin shell element was added and the solution routines were modified to improve its accuracy and efficiency.The modified programs were used on a Super Computer to calculate the post buckling strength of stiffened and unstiffened plates subjected to uniaxial compression, and plates subjected to in plane bending or shear. Crippling of plates subjected to in-plane or eccentric edge compressive loads was also examined. The results from the computational models were compared with test results and reasonable agreements were obtained. A computational model was developed for a multi-story thin steel plate shear wall subjected to cyclic loading and the results from the model were compared with experimental results, and again agreement was achieved.     

Optimal design of sandwich and laminated composite plates based on the planning of experiments

Optimal design problems of sandwich plates with soft core and laminated composite face layers, and multilayered composite plates are investigated. The optimal design problems are solved by using the method of the planning of experiments. The optimization procedure is divided into the following stages: choice of control parameters and establishment of the domain of search, elaboration of plans of experiment for the chosen number of reference points, execution of the experiment, determination of simple mathematical models from the experimental data, design of the structure on the basis of the mathematical models discovered, and finally verification experiments at the point of the optimal solution. Vibration and damping analysis is performed by using a sandwich plate finite elements based on a broken line model. Damping properties of the core and face layers of the plate are taken into account in the optimal design. Modal loss factors are computed using the method of complex eigenvalues or the energy method. Frequencies and modal loss factors of the plate are constraints in the optimal design problem. There are also constraints on geometrical parameters and the bending stiffness of the plate. The mass of the plate is the objective function. Design parameters are the thickness of the plate layers. In the points of experiments computer simulation using FEM is carried out. Using this information, simple mathematical models for frequencies and modal loss factors for the plate are determined. These simple mathematical functions are used as constraints in the nonlinear programming problem, which is solved by random search and the penalty function method. Numerical examples of the optimal design of clamped sandwich and simply supported laminated composite plates are presented. A significant improvement of damping properties of a sandwich plate is observed in comparison with a simple plate of equal natural frequencies.     

Elasto-plastic shear buckling of square plates with circular holes

With in-plane stresses calculated by finite element analysis, critical loads are obtained by the Rayleigh-Ritz method for a square plate subjected to uniform edge shear stress and containing centrally located circular holes. Elastic and elasto-plastic buckling is examined for clamped and simply supported plates, and results are compared with previous analyses and experiments for various sized holes. The range of hole sizes considered is extended to include larger holes than previously examined, and for small holes, the results suggest that the critical stress is higher than previously thought. For elasto-plastic buckling, critical shear stresses are given for the full range of appropriate slenderness. Experimental results for the cases of simply supported plates support the analytical results, whereas verification for clamped plates remains inconclusive on account of limited reliable test data.     

Large deflection analysis of skew plates by lumped triangular element formulation

A finite difference scheme with triangular mesh is presented for the analysis of skew plate problems with large deflections. The suggested formulation is independent of the boundary condition and uses energy principles to derive a set of nonlinear algebraic equations which are solved by using Newton-Raphson iterative method with incremental loading. The investigation is concerned with the behaviour of constant thickness clamped and simply supported isotropic skew plates with immovable edges and subjected to uniformly distributed transverse load. The effects of skew on plates with large deflections are investigated and comparisons are made with existing results; good agreement is shown.     

Nonlinear analysis of skew plates using the finite element method

In this paper finite element analysis of the large deflection behaviour of skew plates has been done. A high precision conforming triangular plate bending element has been used. The central deflection, bending and membrane stresses have been reported for simply supported and clamped rhombic plates. The variations of these quantities have been studied for different skew angles.     

Large amplitude free flexural vibrations of thin plates of arbitrary shape

A finite element formulation is developed for analyzing large amplitude free flexural vibrations of elastic plates of arbitrary shape. Stress distributions in the plates, deflection shape and nonlinear frequencies are determined from the analysis. Linearized stiffness equations of motion governing large amplitude oscillations of plates, quasi-linear geometrical stiffness matrix, solution procedures, and convergence characteristics are presented. The linearized geometrical stiffness matrix for an eighteen degrees-of-freedom conforming triangular plate element is evaluated by using a seven-point numerical integration. Nonlinear frequencies for square, rectangular, circular, rhombic, and isosceles triangular plates, with edges simply supported or clamped, are obtained and compared with available approximate continuum solutions. It demonstrates that the present formulation gives results entirely adequate for many engineering purposes.     

Bifurcation and post-buckling analysis of laminated composite plates via reduced basis technique

A reduced basis technique and a problem-adaptive computational algorithm are presented for the bifurcation and post-buckling analysis of laminated anisotropic plates. The computational algorithm can be conveniently divided into three distinct stages. The first stage is that of determining the bifurcation point. The plate is discretized by using displacement finite element (or finite difference) models. The special symmetries exhibited by the response of the anisotropic plate are used to reduce the size of the analysis region. The vector of unknown nodal parameters is expressed as a linear combination of a small number of basis vectors, and a Rayleigh-Ritz technique is used to approximate the finite element equations by a small system of algebraic equations. The reduced equations are used to determine the bifurcation point and the associated eigen mode of the panel.In the second stage of the bifurcation buckling mode is used to obtain a nonlinear solution in the vicinity of the bifurcation point and new (updated) sets of basis vectors and reduced equations are generated. In the third stage the reduced equations are used to trace the post-buckling paths.The effectiveness of the proposed technique for predicting the bifurcation and post-buckling behavior of plates is demonstrated by means of numerical examples for plates loaded by means of prescribed edge displacements.     

Effect of shear deformation on the yielding of circular plates

Shear Deformation Plate Theory (SDPT) is used to analyse the first yield response of axisymmetric circular plates. Expressions for the first yield pressure and the associated plate centre deflection of uniformly loaded, simply supported and clamped plates are presented. Corresponding Classical Thin Plate Theory (CPT) expressions are also deduced. It is demonstrated that the SDPT and CPT expressions are related via correction factors which are functions of the plate thickness-ratio β, and Poisson's ratio. Graphs of the correction factors plotted against β are presented. They illustrate that inherent shear flexibility causes a slight reduction in the first yield pressure compared with the CPT value when the plate edges are simply supported and a slight increase when they are clamped. Plate centre deflections are, however, increased significantly for both support conditions.     

Analysis of plate resting on elastic supports and elastic foundation by finite strip method

A procedure incorporating the finite strip method together with spring systems is proposed in this paper for treating plates on elastic supports. The spring systems can simulate different elastic supports, such as elastic foundation, line and point elastic supports, and also mixed boundary conditions. To illustrate the application of this procedure, two numerical examples are presented. A three-span simply supported plate is first considered and the effects of support stiffness on the static and free vibration responses and on the critical buckling stress are discussed. A plate resting on Winkler elastic foundation is next studied and the effects of dimension ratio on the static and free vibration responses are discussed. Numerical results show that the spring system can successfully simulate different kinds of elastic supports.     

Buckling of multi-annular plates

Buckling of multi-annular plates is considered. The plate is loaded by axisymmetric radial in-plane forces, either at the outer edge or at one of the circumferential joints or a combination of the two. The plate is simply supported or clamped at the outer boundary or at one of the common joints. The various annular sections are fully connected, and they differ either in geometry or in material properties. Each annular section is homogeneous. A power series solution is used because of its applicability to various boundary conditions. A computer code is employed for the solution. Numerical examples are given for a two-part plate. The procedure is general and can be employed in various problems, such as buckling of annular plates resting on an elastic foundation, vibration analysis of annular plates, etc.     

Seminumerical solution for buckling of rectangular plates

A semianalytical, seminumerical method of solution is presented for the governing partial differential equation of rectangular plates subjected to in-plane loads. The basic functions in the y-direction are chosen as the eigenfunctions for straight prismatic beams. The classical method of separation of variables is employed to obtain an ordinary differential equation. The resulting equation is solved by a one-dimensional finite difference technique. The problem is then reduced to a typical eigenvalue problem which on solution yields the buckling coefficient of the plate. The method is applied on plates with different edge conditions and under various loading conditions. The results are compared with those of existing solutions. Results for the case when one loaded edge is fixed and the other simply supported were reported in the literature for the first time.