Plate Bending

FEM Dr. Riessom 1

 Introduction

FE equations based on Reissner-Mindlin plate

theory will be developed.
FE equations of shells will be formulated by
superimposing matrices of plates and that of 2D
solids.
Computationally tedious due to more DOFs.

FEM Dr. Riessom 2

 Plate Elements
Geometrically similar to 2D plane stress solids
except that it carries only transverse loads. Leads
to bending.
2D equivalent of the beam element.
Rectangular plate elements based on Reissner-
Mindlin plate theory will be developed
conforming element.
Many software like ABAQUS do not offer plate
elements, only the general shell element.

FEM Dr. Riessom 3

 Plate Elements
Consider a plate structure:
fz Middle plane
z, w y

h x
Middle
plane

(Reissner-Mindlin plate
FEM Dr. Riessom 4
theory)
 Plate Elements
Reissner-Mindlin plate theory: Middle
plane
u ( x, y, z ) z y ( x, y )
v( x, y, z ) z x ( x, y )

In-plane strain: z
y x

where L x y (Curvature)
x y
x y

0
x

in which L 0
y


FEM Dr.
Riessom 5
y x
 Plate Elements
w
xz y x
Off-plane shear strain: w

yz x
y
Potential (strain) energy:
1 h/2
T 1 h/2
Ue dAdz T dAdz
2 Ae h / 2 2 Ae h / 2

In-plane stress & Off-plane shear

strain stress & strain

xz G 0
c s
yz 0 G
FEM Dr. Riessom
2 /12 or 5/6 6
 Plate Elements
xz G 0
Substituting z , 0 G c s
yz
1 h3 T 1
Ue cdA h T c s dA
2 Ae 12 2 Ae
1
Kinetic energy: Te (u 2 v 2 w 2 )dV
2 Ve
u ( x, y, z ) z y ( x, y )
Substituting
v( x, y, z ) z x ( x, y )

1 h3 2 h3 2 1
Te (hw x y )dA (dT I d)dA
2

2 Ae 12 12 2 Ae
FEM Dr. Riessom 7
 Plate Elements

1 h3 2 h3 2 1
Te (hw x y )dA (d T I d )dA
2

2 Ae 12 12 2 Ae

h 0 0
w
h3
where d x , I 0 0
12

h3
y 0 0
12

FEM Dr. Riessom 8

 Shape Functions

Note that rotation is independent of deflection w

4 4 4
w N i w i , x N i x i , y N i y i
i 1 i 1 i 1

(Same as rectangular
where N i 14 (1 i )(1 i )
2D solid)

FEM Dr. Riessom 9

 Shape Functions
h w1
w
x1 displacement at node 1
x Nd e y1


z, w w2
4 (1, +1) y
(w4,x4,y4) x2 displacement at node 2
3 (1, +1)
y 2
(w3,x3,y3) where de
2 w3
x 3
displacement at node 3
2
y 3
1 (1, 1) 2 (1, 1) w
(w1,x1,y1) (w2,x2,y2) 4
x 4
displacement at node 4

y 4 e

N1 0 0 N2 0 0 N3 0 0 N4 0 0
N 0 N1 0 0 N2 0 0 N3 0 0 N4 0
0 0 N1 0 0 N2 0 0 N3 0 0 N 4

FEM

Dr. Riessom



10
Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 4
 Element Matrices
h
w
1 T )dA
T
Substitute x d Nd e into e Ae ( d I d
2
y
1 T
Te d e m ed e Recall that:
2

T h 0 0
where me N I Nd A
Ae
h3
I 0 0
12
(Can be evaluated
analytically but in practice, 0 h3
0
12
use Gauss integration)

FEM Dr. Riessom 11

 Element Matrices
h
w

Substitute x d Nd e into potential energy function

y
from which we obtain
h3 I T I
ke [B ] cB dA h[B O ]T c s B O dA
Ae 12 Ae

N j N j 1
I
B B1 I
B I
2 B I
3 B I
4 x
i (1 i )
x 4a
0 0 N j x N j N j 1
(1 i ) i
B Ij 0 N j y 0 y y 4b

0 N j x N j y

Note: x a , y b
FEM Dr. Riessom 12
 Element Matrices

B O B O1 B O2 B 3O B O4 (me can be solved
analytically but practically
N j x
O
0 Nj solved using Gauss
B
j
N j y N j 0 integration)

fz

f e N T 0 dA
Ae
0

For uniformly distributed load,

f eT abf z 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
FEM Dr. Riessom 13
 Shell Elements
Loads in all directions
Bending, twisting and in-plane deformation
Combination of 2D solid elements (membrane
effects) and plate elements (bending effect).
Common to use shell elements to model plate
structures in commercial software packages.

FEM Dr. Riessom 14

 Elements In Local Coordinate
System
Consider a flat shell element z, w
4 (1, +1)
d e1 node 1 (u4, v4, w4,
d node 2 3 (1, +1)
x4,y4,z4)
(u3, v3, w3,
d e e2
d e3 node 3 2 x3,y3,z3)
d e 4 node 4
2
ui displacement in x direction 1 (1, 1) 2 (1, 1)
v displacement in y direction (u1, v1, w1, (u2, v2, w2,
i
w displacement in z direction x1,y1,z1) x2,y2,z2)
d ei i
xi rotation about x-axis
yi rotation about y -axis

zi rotation about z -axis

FEM Dr. Riessom 15

 Elements In Local Coordinate
System
Membrane stiffness (2D solid element):
node1 node2 node3 node4
m m m m
k 11 k 12 k 13 k 14 node 1
k m21 k m22 k m23 k m24 node 2
k em
m m m m
k 31 k 32 k 33 k 34 node 3

k m41 k m42 k m43 k m44 node 4
(2x2)

Bending stiffness (plate element):

node1 node2 node3 node4
b b b b
k 11 k 12 k 13 k 14 node 1
k b21 k b22 k b23 k b24 node 2
k be
b b b b
k 31 k 32 k 33 k 34 node 3

(3x3) k b41 k b42 k b43 k b44 node 4
FEM Dr. Riessom 16
 Elements In Local Coordinate
System
node
1 node
2 node
3 node
4

m
k 11 0 m
0 k 12 0 0 m
k 13 0 0 m
k 14 0 0

0 b
k 11 0 0 b
k 12 0 0 b
k 13 0 0 b
k 14 0 node 1 Components

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 related to the

k m21 0 0 k m22 0 0 k m23 0 0 k m24 0

0
DOF z, are
zeros in local
0 k b21 0 0 k b22 0 0 k b23 0 0 k b24 0 node 2

coordinate
ke 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

m m m m
system.
k 31 0 0 k 32 0 0 k 33 0 0 k 34 0 0
node 3
0 k b31 0 0 k b32 0 0 k b33 0 0 k b34 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

k m41 0 0 k m42 0 0 k m43 0 0 k m44 0 0
node 4
0 k b41 0 0 k b42 0 0 k b43 0 0 k b44 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

FEM Dr. Riessom

(24x24) 17
 Elements In Local Coordinate
System
Membrane mass matrix (2D solid element):
node1 node2 node3 node4
m m m m
m11 m12 m13 m14 node 1
m em m m21 m m22 m m23 m m24
node 2

m m m m
m 31 m 32 m33 m 34 node 3

m m41 m m42 m m43 m m44 node 4

Bending mass matrix (plate element):

node1 node2 node3 node4
b b b b
m11 m12 m13 m14 node 1
m be m b21 mb22 m b23 m b24
node 2

mb31 b
m 32 mb33 b
m34 node 3

m b41 mb42 m b43 m b44 node 4
FEM Dr. Riessom 18
 Elements In Local Coordinate
System
node
1 node
2 node
3 node
4

m
m11 0 m
0 m12 0 0 m
m 13 0 0 m
m 14 0 0
b b b b

0 m11 0 0 m 12 0 0 m 13 0 0 m 14 0 node 1
Components
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

related to the
m m21 0 0 m m22 0 0 m m23 0 0 m m24 0 0

node 2
DOF z, are
0 m b21 0 0 m b22 0 0 m b23 0 0 m b24 0
zeros in local
me 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

coordinate
m
m 31 0 m
0 m 32 0 m
0 m 33 0 m
0 m 34 0 0
node 3 system.
0 m b31 0 0 m b32 0 0 m b33 0 0 m b34 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

m m41 0 0 m m42 0 0 m m43 0 0 m m44 0 0
node 4
0 m b
41 0 0 m b
42 0 0 m b
43 0 0 m b44 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

FEM Dr. Riessom

(24x24) 19
 Elements In Global Coordinate
System
T3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
K e TT k e T T3 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 T3 0 0 0 0 0

T 0 0 0 T3 0 0 0 0
Me T meT where T
0 0 0 0 T3 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 T3 0 0
Fe T T f e 0

0 0 0 0 0 T3 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T3

l x mx nx
T3 l y my n y
l z mz n z
FEM Dr. Riessom 20
 Remarks

The membrane effects are assumed to be

uncoupled with the bending effects in the element
level.
This implies that the membrane forces will not
result in any bending deformation, and vice versa.
For shell structure in space, membrane and
bending effects are actually coupled (especially
for large curvature), therefore finer element mesh
may have to be used.

FEM Dr. Riessom 21