Solution of some boundary value problems in applied mechanics by the collocation least square method

The conventional simple but crude method of collocation is greatly improved by a least square augmentation. Simplicity in application and good accuracy of the proposed collocation least square scheme is demonstrated by the solution of some complex problems in applied mechanics.Example solutions of such problems include the linear and nonlinear analyses of isotropic plates, orthotropic plates and plates on elastic foundations. Numerical and graphical results are presented and compared with existing solutions. For the problems considered herein, the present method proves to be much less laborious than other numerical methods frequently employed by previous investigators.