A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering of the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1978

A simple quadrilateral flat plate element with four nodes and twenty degrees-of-freedom under combined in-plane and bending deformations is presented for the analysis of general plate and shell structures. The bending theory employed considers transverse shear deformations, permitting thin as well as moderately thick shell structures to be solved. Displacements and rotations are expressed in five independent bilinear shape functions using the isoparametric concept. Incompatible in-plane displacement modes are included in order to improve the in-plane characteristics, and the selective reduced integration technique is used to avoid the shear locking effect in thin shell problems. Two parameters, namely; the shear correction factor and the torsional spring stiffness, which influence the accuracy of the finite element solution are examined and the optimum values are recommended. The effect of shear on the response of one particular shell is also studied. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency, accuracy and applicability of this simple element to solve various plate and shell problems.