A curvilinear triangular finite element for plate bending by a hybrid method of assumed displacements supplemented with assumed stresses

A curvilinear triangular finite element is described for plate bending problems. The geometry is in quadratic parametric representation. The method employs assumed displacements supplemented with assumed stresses and is embedded in Kirchhoff theory.The curvilinear finite element is designed to pass exactly the patch test for constant curvature changes when the flexural rigidity is constant. Rigid body movements are always exactly recovered. Numerical evidence is provided on patch tests for linearly varying curvature changes