INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, VOL.

36, 1859-1883 (1 993)

A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT

BASED O N MINDLIN-REISSNER PLATE THEORY AND
ASSUMED SHEAR STRAIN FIELDS-PART I: AN EXTENDED
DKT ELEMENT FOR THICK-PLATE BENDING ANALYSIS

IRWAN KATILI

Department of cioil Engineering, Uniuersitas Indonesia, Kampus U.1. Depok 16424, Indonesia

SUMMARY
This is the first of a two-part paper on plate bending elements with shear effects included.
This paper presents a new three-node, nine-d.0.f. triangular plate bending element valid for the analysis of
thick to thin plates. The element, called DKMT, has a proper rank (contains no spurious zero-energy
modes), passes the patch test for thin and thick plates in an arbitrary mesh and is free of shear locking. Very
good results have been obtained for thin and thick plates by the element. An extended DKQ element for
thick-plate bending analysis is evaluated in Part ILZ4

INTRODUCTION
Computational advantages of simple plate and shell elements in large-scale finite element analysis
and, especially, in non-linear problems have motivated extensive development of three-node
triangles and four-node quadrilaterals. This interest is well recalled in a recent paper by Felippa
and Militel10,~~ who discussed the various variational formulations available to obtain efficient
and simple elements for plates.
Elements based on Reissner-Mindlin’s theory” require only Co continuity. It is widely
recognized that the development of such an element is not without problems. Typically, difficul-
ties are encountered in connection with shear locking when the plate thickness approaches zero,
thereby giving incorrect results for thin plates, and other types of numerical ill- conditioning, loss
of rank, and poor accuracy due to theoretical shortcomings. Many of these problems are
discussed in further detail in reference^.^-^ In addition, many elements have zero-energy modes,
which may cause mechanisms to spread through the mesh. Various modifications of formulation
as well as numerical tricks have been used in order to deal with these difficulties, such as reduced
and selective integration.
In order to remove the problem of shear locking in Reissner-Mindlin’s elements, several
variants of the discrete Kirchhoff hypothesis have been employed to develop successful thin-plate
elements. The discrete Kirchhoff approach involves an initial selection of approximations for the
normal rotations within the element and an independent description of the transverse displace-
ment on the boundary. Imposition of the Kirchhoff constraint (the normal rotations must be
equal with the first derivative of the transverse displacement) at a discrete number of points leads
to expressions for the normal rotations in terms of the element joint displacements. These
expressions are substituted into the strain energy expression written in terms of the normal
rotations, and subsequent operations produce the element stiffness matrix. In this development

0029-~5981/93/ 111859-25$17.50 Received 13 January 1992

0 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Revised 8 September 1992
1860 I. KATlLl

Figure 1. Nine d.0.f. triangular plate bending element

the normal rotations are described by quadratic polynomials and the element boundary displace-
ments by cubics. An extensive study of triangular element formulations for thin-plate bending
demonstrated that a ‘discrete Kirchhoff’ approach is highly effective.” The elements are capable
of representing only thin-plate behaviour. In addition to the early references on the DKT element
by Stricklin et al.,‘ see References 7-15.
Recognizing the transverse shear energy as the major cause of difficulty under isoparametric
kinematic assumptions, another approach by the assumed shear strain fields with constant
tangential shear along the sides was advocated by Bathe and Dvorkin,16 Aalto.17 Zienkiewicz
et d.’*and Hughes and Tay10r.l~Plate models of this type appear to be among the ‘best’
available elements at present.
Discrete shear triangular (DST-BL) element, based on the discrete Kirchhoff constraint and the
equilibrium equation and introduced by Batoz and Lardeur” includes transverse shear effects
and coincides with the DKT” (discrete Kirchhoff triangle) element if the transverse shear effects
are not significant. However, an incompatibility of the rotation of the normal appears due to
shear effects. The compatibility is verified for very thin plates (DKT). A detailed investigation
shows that the patch tests are exactly satisfied for thin plates only. In thick-plate situations
a small error is observed when evaluating M,, M y and M,,,.
To improve the DST-BL element, Ratoz and Katili” proposed a new reliable and efficient
discrete shear triangular (DST-BK) plate bending element based on incompatible modes and free
formulation. This element does not converge towards the DKT solution in the thin-plate
situation but gives even better results than DKT” in many situations. It has a proper rank,
passes the patch test and does not lock.
In this paper, the formulation and the evaluation of a new triangular element having three
nodes and 3 d.0.f. per node (Figure 1) has been formulated based on a generalization of the
discrete Kirchhoff technique to include the transverse shear effects. It coincides with the DKT”
in thin-plate situations. A special shear interpolation has been used with constant tangential shear
along the sides to include the transverse shear effect. The element is called DKMT (discrete
Kirchhoff-Mindlin triangle). It also has a proper rank, passes the patch test and does not lock.
The compatibility element is always satisfied in thin as well as in thick plates.

FORMULATION OF A NEW ELEMENT

Starting with the Mindlin plate theory, where the transverse displacement w and the normal
rotations pxand 0, are independently defined, the strain energies due to bending and due to shear
deformation are considered.
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT: PART 1 1861

The plate theory with the Reissner-Mindlin hypothesis introduces the assumption that the
normals to the mid-surface of the plate before deformation remain straight after deformation but
do not necessarily remain normal to it. In this approach the rotations of normals to the middle
surface of the plate, which occur as the plate is loaded and deforms, are considered to be
independent of the deflection of the middle surface. The approximations that are chosen to
describe the rotations and the transverse displacement are not required to satisfy conditions of
normal slope continuity across element interfaces (C' continuity). They need only be Co continu-
ous. The displacement variables are assumed to be independent in the following manner:
u = ZP&, Y), 2: = z B y ( x , Y), w = w(x, Y ) (1)
where x,y are co-ordinates in the reference middle surface, z is the co-ordinate through the
thickness h, - h/2 < z d +
h/2, and w is the transverse displacement. Bx and 8, represent the
rotations of the normal in the X-Z and Y-2 planes, respectively (Figure 2).

Equilibrium equutions for u static distributed loud j z

Tx,x + T,,, +.L = 0
y

+
M,., , M x y , - T, = 0 on A
Mxy,, + M y , y - T, = 0
where T,, T,, M,, M y and M,, are the shear forces and the bending moments per unit length
(Figure 3). These resultants are related to the Cartesian stresses ox, ny,G~,,ox=and oYzby

T, = s' -i
ox,dz, T, = s' -t
h
oyzdz, t = -
2
(3)

0
Y-Z plane 2-X plane

Figure 2. Positive directions of Bx and p,

Figure 3. Bending moments and shear forces

1862 I. KATILI

Kinematic relations
The bending strain ( E ~ )and the curvature (x) are given by
(&b )= (x>
(x> = a. x BY, y y
(PI, + 8,. 1))

where as the transverse shear strains are

(Y) = ( Y x z Y,z> = (w.x + 8, W,? + 8,)

Constitutive relations
The constitutive equations for the bending moments (Figure 3) are given by

M,
1Ez] 1i: ]XX?
= [Hbl

And for the case of a linearly elastic, isotropic, homogeneous plate, H b is given by
1 v 0
Eh3
[Hb]=Db u 1 0 , Db= (7)
12(1 - u 2 )
L A

where Dh is the plate rigidity, E is Young’s modulus, u is Poisson’s ratio and h is the thickness of
the plate.
The constitutive equations for the shear forces (Figure 3) are given by

{]; = [HSI

where (vxz vyz)

are independent (or assumed) shear strains.
For the case of a linearly elastic, isotropic, homogeneous plate, H , is given by

[HJ = D, [: y], D,= kGh (9)

where k is the shear correction factor (a value of 5/6 is usually considered) and the shear modulus
G = E/2(1 4- 0).

The compatible shape ,functions f o r the rotations

It is essential that the element is capable of reproducing all rigid body and constant-curvature
characteristics in an exact manner. For these reasons, the normal rotations are interpolated by
a complete rigid body and constant-curvature field expansion (rc-modes) and a set of higher-
order functions (h-modes):
3 6

81 = Nz Bxi $- Pk C k A . P s k
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT PART I 1863

Ni expresses a complete polynomial to a degree which corresponds to rc-modes and Pk

expresses a set of higher-order functions (h-modes). N iand Pk are presented in Table I. BXi and
fiYi are nodal values at the corners 1, 2, 3 and ADsk are the nodal values at the mid-nodes 4, 5,
6 (Figure 5b) and are identified with the increment of tangential rotation at mid-sides. Ck and S k
are the direction cosines of side k.

The curvature vector

The computation of curvature from (4) is straightforward:
{x> = CBb/ll (un> f CBbA/ll { A f i n )

The assumed shear strain fields

Consider a local s, n-co-ordinate system at element boundary. s denotes the tangential direction
and n the outward normal direction (see Figure 4).
The constitutive equation for the tangential shear strain along a side k is

where T, is the tangcntial shear force along the side k.

The equilibrium equations of each side need to be added to the above relations:
Ts = N ,s + K S ,n

Table I. Shape functions for the rotations

N 1 = /I P4 = 41.g
N2 = r p5 = 4511
N3=v P, = 41.11
1864 I. KATILl

S, = Sin @k= yji/Lk

(Lk)2 = (xji)2 + (Yji)2

y'ji = y J. - yI

Figure 4. Geometry and local tangential-normal co-ordinate system at element boundary of the triangular element

The constitutive equations for the bending moment on each side are
= Db(Ps, s + UBn, n)

It is possible to obtain a kinematic relationship between the tangential shear strains and the
normal rotations on each side by using (16)-(18):

The rotation f i n is imposed in a linear variation along the sides (see Figure 5(a)):

The rotation ps is imposed in a quadratic variation along the sides (see Figure 5(b)):

and gives
B n , ns = Ps,nn = 0

i i k
4 b)
Figure 5. Variation of 8. and fls along the sides
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF MINDLIN ELEMENT: PART 1 1865

We obtain

where

u is Poisson's ratio, k = 5/6 is the shear correction factor, h is the thickness of the plate, L k is the
length of the side k, $ k is the shear influence factor.
The tangential shear angles of sides k and m (see Figure 6 ) can be expressed in terms of the shear
angle components njXzi and T,,zi of corner i by

or

with
Ai = C k s m - C m S k
The values of i, k and m are presented in Table 11.

I X

Figure 6. Kinematic data and tangential shear strain at points 4, 5, 6

Table 11. Values of i, k and m for equations

(23--25)

1 k m
1 4 6
2 5 4
3 6 5
1866 1. KATlLl

We obtain

where

As in the triangular e l e r n e n t ~ ' ~ ~the

' ~ . ' transverse
~ shear strain {y} is interpolated inde-
pendently with
3
(28)
yz i=l Yyzi

and Ni are linear shape functions of the triangular element. Combining expressions (26) -(28) gives

where

{Tn} is the vector of substitute transverse shear strain variables. For some elements presented in
(1 7)-( 19) these independent variables are then related to the nodal variables w , , bxi, using
various discrete schemes which generalize the technique used to obtain the discrete Kirchhoff
elements.
In this paper {Tn) is expressed in terms of APskby using the constitutive equation and two of the
three equilibrium cquations on three sides of the triangular matrix given by (22), and gives

where
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF MINDLIN ELEMENT: PART I 1867

Modified Hu- Washizu functional for thick plates

In this study, the modified Hu-Washizu functional is used to develop a three-node plate
bending element. The details of the variational functional using the modified Hu-Washizu
principle have been discussed in Reference 21, and only a brief outline is given herein for
completeness.
The variational functional of the modified Hu-Washizu principle is given as
r

with

K = i J ( 7 ) C H , I I ~d~) +
Ae
j
Ae
< T ) ( I ~-
) {~TI)~A (35)

nb is the bending strain energy, II, is the shear strain energy and Hex, describes the effect of
boundary and other loads andf, is a uniform loading in the z direction.
Taking the variation of TI with respect to T and setting it equal to zero, we get

which must be viewed as a constraint equation and is equivalent in this case to

St bTs(ys,- VsZ)ds= 0, k

with T, the constant per side in this case.

= 4, +
5, 6 and ysz = w , ~ /Is (37)

The discrete constraint on element boundaries

Using equations (20b) and (22), the constraint in equation (37) is represented in discrete manner
on three sides and leads to the following relation:

and

We have,

or

The values of i, j and k are presented in Table 111.

1868 I. KATILI

Table 111. Values of i, j and k for equations

(3940)

1 .i k
1 2 4
2 3 5
3 1 6

When (40) is applied for the three sides, the independent parameters {AD,}can be related to the
final d.0.f. { U , } by

where

is a non-singular, diagonal 3 x 3 matrix. The compatibility of BSis not lost on the DKMT
element. In DST-BLZ0element [&a] is a diagonal 3 x 3 matrix in thin-plate situations (in this
case DST-BL = DKT") and in thick plates [Ana] is a complete 3 x 3 matrix. The compatibility
of ps is lost and for this reason the DST-BL element does not pass the constant-curvature patch
test.

[ A w ] is a 3 x 9 matrix depending on the corner co-ordinates only.

The stiyness matrix

Substituting equation (41) into the expression of curvature (9), we obtain
{x) = C B b l {un> (45)
where
Cnhl = CBhj31 + [BhAal cAnl (46)
Substituting equation (41) into the expression of the shear strain (31), we obtain
{qil = CBsl Iun} (47)
wherc
cBsl = [BsAfil CAn1 (48)
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT PART I 1869

Using equations (7) and (45), the bending strain energy (equation 34) for an element of area A" is
given by
Heb -- 1
2<Un)[Khl{Un} (49)
where

With pointwise satisfaction of equation (37) and by using equations (9) and (47) for an element
of area A', the shear strain energy is given by
JX= + < u n > C K s I { u n ) (51)
This shear strain energy depends on the factor & and tends to zero if 4k 6 1 (no shear locking),
with
K s = jAC CBsl dA
C ~ S I ' C ~ S I (52)

Finally, the stiffness matrix [ K ] is the sum of the bending and the shear stiffness matrices:
[K1 = [Kbl + CK51 (53)
The stiffness matrices in equations (SO) and (52) are calculated by using a numerical scheme
(three Hammer points).

Strexsev
Once the nodal variables { U , } are known, the bending moment ( M ) can be evaluated at any
point by
( M ) = CHbI CBb(5, v)I {un) (54)
The shear forces T, and Ty are given by
{ T ) = C H s I C B s ( S 9 v)I {Un) (55)

Loud vector
The equivalent nodal forces due to a constant pressurefz are presented here by simple lumpings
and given by
IIF = jAef,wdA= ( F n ) { U , } , with (Fn)='-(1
fA" 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0)
3 (56)

It is clear that if the transverse shear effects are not important (#k 6 1) the influence of the shear
deformations is negligible and the DKMT element will converge to the DKT" element. As
a consequence, the DKMT element will never lock for thin plates and the element has a proper
rank for any aspect ratio (three rigid body only). With this procedure, the 'exact' stiffness matrix
of a beam is obtained. The compatibility element can be maintained for any aspect ratio. The
triangular DKMT element presented in this paper is based on linear interpolation for ?/*, and
vvzwith constant values of on each side of the triangle. The jJsz values are substituted in terms of
qJsz

the values of w and Bs on a side by using the moment equilibrium relations and the constitutive
equations on each side in a discrete manner.
1870 r. KATILI

NUMERICAL RESULTS
Several problems have been solved to assess the performance characteristics of the DKMT
element. The results obtained for some of these problems are presented in this section.
1. Eigenvalues and rank
Only three eigenvalues are always zero (corresponding to the rigid body modes of the
element) for various element shapes and for very thin as well as very thick plates. The
element has always a proper rank.
2. The patch test
The element stiffness matrix must satisfy the patch test in order to give reliable results. The
ability of the element to reproduce constant states of strains is an essential requirement for
achieving convergence to the correct solution as the finite element mesh is refined. To
check the performance of the element, we start with the patch test problem suggested in
Reference 21. This patch test is shown in Figure 7 to reproduce a theoretically constant
state of strain for thin and thick plates. Exact results were obtained in all cases, confirming
that the elements pass the test.
2a. Constant-curvature patch tests
For the elements based on the Reissner- Mindlin theory, constant curvature condition and
zero shear deformation can be investigated by considering the kinematical form of the
patch-tests in accordance with the following theoretical displacement fields which lead to
constant curvatures and zero transverse shear:
(a) w = - 4 2 ; fix = x; pY = 0; (x) = (1 0 0 ) ; (y) = (0 0).
(b) w = - 12 Y ; ox = 0; By = Y; (x) = (0 1 0); (Y) = (0 0).

Y X
(c) w = - ixy; px = -; p,
2
= -;
2
(x} = ( 0 0 1); ( 7 ) = (0 0).

With the DKMT and DST-BK” elements, exact results are obtained for any aspect ratio.
For the DST-BLZ0element, exact results are obtained for L / h > 100 (in this case DST-
BL = DKT) but small errors appear for L / h < 100. The displacements at node 5 (as given
in Figure 7 ) are reported in Figure 8.
It can be seen that, although element DST-BL did not give exact results, the error was
quite small. Furthermore, it was found that when node 5 was placed at the centre of the
plate, element DST-BL gave exact results (this was reported in Reference 20).

Data :
E =lo00
v = 0.3
k = 5/6

Figure 7. Patch test problems

 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT PART 1 1871

---KL
DKMT. DST-BK
0-
3-
-1 -
.-C
L1
e -2 -
h
-3 -
I , , I 1 1
4

DST-BL

DKMT, DST-BK

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Log(h/L)
c) x,, =I (w = -xyl2 ; px = y12 ; py = xi2)

Figure 8. Constant-curvature patch test-ffect of thicknessfiength ratio on displacements W at node 5

2b. Constant-shear-deformation patch test

For verification of the constant shear deformation condition and the zero curvature, we
impose nodal values on the boundary of a patch according to the following fields:
(a) u' = ix; bx = 3; By = 0; (x) = (0 0 0); (y) = (1 0).
(b) w = 3 ~ ;fix = 0; by = 4; (x)
= (0 0 0); (y) = (0 1 ) .
For large values of h ( h / L > 10)or for very small values of k ( k = Figure 9 shows the
displacement of node 5 as the thicknesspength ratio was increased. At low values of h/L the
displacements followed the thin-plate line, and at high values of h/L the displacements
approached the pure shear line. It can be seen, therefore, that the elements DKMT,
DST-BK and DST-BL pass the constant-shear patch test.
1872 I. KATTLT

10 I 1
0
pure shear line
-
I

-10 -

-
L
e
-20 -

-
e,

DKMT
-30 - El --C DST-BK
DST-UL
-40
t
4 - 3 - 2 - 1 0 1 2 3

a ) yx2 test : w = X I 2 ; px = 112 ;py = 0

10

8
P
E
0 6
L
e5 4
P
2

0
4 - 3 - 2 - 1 0 1 2 3

b) yyz test : w = y/2 ; px = 0 ;pY = 112

Figure 9. Constant-shear patch test-ffect of thickness/length ratio on displacements W at node 5

3. Simply supported ( S S ) and clamped circular plate under unijorm loading

Figure 10 shows that one quarter of the circular plate of radius R = 5 is modelled with four
different meshes of 6, 24, 54 and 96 elements (see Figure 11). Three thickness cases are
considered, with h = 0.1, h = 1 and h = 2. Both the simply supported (SS) and clamped
boundaries were considered. Simple support of the boundary here means that only the
transverse displacement is set to zero. The result for the two different boundary conditions
is presented in Tables IVa-c and Va-c. Results from DST-BK21 and DST-EL” are shown
for comparison. For R/h = 5 the convergence of central displacement, central moment M ,
and energy of the plate are shown in Figures 12 and 13, respectively, for clamped and S S
circular plate under uniform loading. In Figures 14-17 we show the results of bending
forces M , , bending forces M , , shear forces T, and displacement w, on a radius for the thin
and thick clamped plates and the mesh of 96 elements. For this example the shear forces
resulting from equation (55) are not reliable in thin-plate (2R/h > 20 or n, + 0) analysis.
A similar observation has been made in Reference 21 for DST-BL and DST-BK. However,
when the thickness increases, the accuracy of the shear forces significantly improves. This
fact should be considered satisfactory since the role of the shear forces in the design of thin
plates is negligible; in the dcsign of thick plates it is important.
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF MINDLIN ELEMENT: PART I 1873

't
Data :

a E=10.92, ~ = 0 . 3 ,
A R=5, h=0.1,h = l and h=2
Uniform loading : fz=1
Boundary condition on AB:
For SS : w=O
For Clamped: w=px=p/=O
Symmetry condition ;
X onCB : p y = O
C _L onCA : p x = O
B a
Reference solution for circular plate : [22]

Vertical displacement : Vertical displacement :

Exact energy :

n.
In'-
-&1 . 4 0 2
384Db k (I-u) I
Where ;
cp defines the size of the sector analyzed
cp = xi2 for our analyses
k = 5/6, 2) is Poisson ratio.
c =Rl (OSrSR)

Figure 10. 24-element mesh of symmetric quadrant of circular plate

1874 I. KATILI

Table IVa. Centre displacements for the clamped circular plate under uniform loading.

Rlh = 50 R/h = 5 Rlh = 2.5

NELT DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL

6 10306-0 9843.0 10306-0 11.921 11.342 11.951 2-119 2.043 2,136

24 9995.6 9855.1 9995.8 11.703 11.548 11.806 2.126 2,108 2.153
54 9883.5 98104 9884.0 11.617 11.547 11.737 2.121 2.112 2.149
96 9847.5 9802.5 9848.3 11.594 11.554 11.731 2.119 2.114 2.149

Exact 9783.5 11.551 2.114

Table IVb. Central Moment M , for the clamped circular plate under uniform loading.

Rlh = 50 Rlh = 5 Rjh = 2.5

NELT DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL

6 2.40 2.56 240 2.47 2.3 1 2.43 2~55 2.32 2.47

24 2.17 2.25 2.17 2.22 2.16 2.19 2.24 2.1 5 2.2 1
54 2.10 2.13 2.10 2.13 2.10 213 2.14 2. LO 2.14
96 2.07 2.09 2.07 2.09 2.07 2.10 2-10 2.07 2.13

Exact 2.03 2.03 2.03

Table IVc. Energy for clamped circular plate under uniform loading.

R/h = 50 R/h = 5 R/h = 2.5

NELT DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL

6 67622 64546 67601 80.426 76.030 79.619 14.974 14.352 14.844

24 66262 65329 66241 82.182 80.782 82210 16.376 16,197 16.432
54 65014 64493 64995 81.686 80.961 82.060 16.570 16.480 16.685
96 64767 64456 64753 81.702 81.302 82.323 16.664 16.615 16.815

Exact 63 759 81.025 16.668

 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHIIOFF MINDLIN ELEMENT: PART I 1875

Table Va. Central displacements for the SS circular plate under uniform loading.

R/h = 50 Rlh =5 R/h = 2-5

NELT DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL

6 37848 37391 37847 39.462 38.888 39.494 5.562 5-486 5.580

24 39398 39234 39397 41.091 40926 41.185 5.799 5-780 5.832
54 39640 39560 39640 41.368 41.296 41.536 5.839 5.831 5.888
96 39729 39680 39729 41.473 41.432 41.705 5.854 5.849 5.913

Exact 39 831 41-599 5.870

Table Vb. Central Moment M , for the SS circular plate under uniform loading.

Rlh = 50 Rlh = 5 Rlh = 2.5

NELT DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL

6 5.26 5.43 5.26 5.33 5.27 5.30 5.42 5.18 5.34

24 5.23 5.28 5.23 5.27 5.22 5.25 5.29 5.25 5.28
54 5.20 5.22 5.20 5.23 5.20 5.23 5.23 5.19 5.26
96 5.18 5.20 5.18 5.20 5-18 5-22 5.20 5.18 5.26

Exact 5.16 5.16 5.16

Table Vc. Energy for SS circular plate under uniform loading.

Rlh = 50 Rjh =5 Rjh = 2.5

NELT DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL DKMT DST-BK DST-BL
~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~

6 290810 287710 290780 303.6L 299.19 302-78 42,870 42.248 42.744

24 341270 340090 341 240 357.08 355.54 356.99 50.726 50.543 50815
54 350940 350350 350920 367.57 366.81 368.29 52.302 52.21 1 52.565
96 354 590 354 240 354 570 371.50 371.09 372.87 52.888 52.838 53.257

Exact 357 227 374.49 53.351

1876 I. KATILI

NELT r 6 NCLT = 24

NELT = 54 NELT = 96

Figure 11. Different meshes of symmetric quadrant of circular plate

Table VI. Comparison of central displacements for the SS square plate under uniform
loading with different h/L. ( N = 8)

W,: = W, x lo3 x DbjfzL4 h/L = 0.05 h/L = 0.1 h/L = 0.15 h/l, = 0.2 hjL = 0.25

DKMT 4.1 12 4.270 4535 4.906 5.383

DST-BL [20] 4.113 4.271 4.535 4.905 5.382
DST-BK [21] 4.102 4.261 4525 4.897 5.374
Salerno & Goldberg [23] 4.108 4.242 4.465 4.908 5.179

4 . Simply supported ( S S ) square plate with uniform loading

Figure 18 shows that a quarter of a square plate is subjected to a uniform load and is
modelled with 8 x 8 meshes. For different aspect ratios h/L, the dimensionless results of w,
are compared with the solution by the DST-BK element21 and the DST-BL elementz0 in
Table VT and with the reference solution given by Salerno and Goldberg.23

CONCLUDING REMARKS
A new three-node and nine d.0.f. triangular element for the analysis of thin to thick plates has
been evaluated and presented. Discrete shear constraint, are considered on each side to relate the
kinematical and the independent shear strains.
For thin plates the transverse shear effects arc not important, the influence of the terms due to
shear deformation is negligible and the DKMT element will converge to the DKT" element.
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MTNDLIN ELEMENT. PART I 1877

l,w r- ~

1.01 -
1.00 - - -
0.99 -
I I
0,98
0 20 40 60 XO 100 NELT

a} convergence of central displacemen W ,

r n I I I

b ) convergence of central moment M ,

Q
- I
- 0

-
-
--t
DKMT
DST-BK
DSTBL
I I
0,92
0 20 40 60 80 100 NELT

c ) convergence of Energy
Figure 12. Clamped circular plates under uniform loading (R/h = 5)

The new element (DKMT) proposed here has the following characteristics:
Passes the patch test for thin and thick plates.
No extra zero-energy modes.
No shear locking for thin plates.
Relatively insensitive to geometric distortions.
Geometrically invariant.
Good mesh convergence characteristics.
Computationally efficient.
I t is, therefore, believed that the element can be very useful for practical applications.
1878 I. KATILI

0 20 40 60 RO i a0 NELT

a ) convergence of central displacement

1.04

1.01

1 ,oo
0 20 40 60 80 100 NELT

h ) convergence of central moment M,

0.9

03

-..7
0
0 20 40
E
60
l --t

80
DST-RK

100 NELT

c ) convergence of Energy
Figure 13. Simply supported Llrcular plates under uniform loading (R/h = 5 )
 A NEW DISCRETE KTRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT PART I 1879

-1 -
-2 -
-3 -
-4 . , . I . , . , ' , '
o 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

A) Rlh = 50

3
2'

2- 0

1-

-2 -
-3 - 0

-41 . I . I . I . . I .
0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

h ) Rih = 5

2'

2 0'1
-1 -
-2 -
-3 - 0

4 . , . , . , . , . I .
0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

C) Rlh = 2.5

Figure 14. Clamped circular plates under uniform loading. Bending forces M, on a radius (C-B) using DKMT
WELT = 96)
1880 1. KATILI

0 1 2 3 4 5 K 6

LI) Rlh = 50

0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

b) Rlh = 5

m
z
1 -

- 1 - - . , . , . , . , . y .
0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

c} Rlh = 2.5

Figure 15. Clamped circular plates under uniform loading. Bending forces Mt, on a radius (C-B) using DKMT
(NELT = 96)
 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT PART I 1881

i
- 2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

a ) Rlh = 50

b ) Rlh = 5

c-
- 2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

C) Rlh = 2.5

Figure 16. Clamped circular plates under uniform loading. Shear forces T, on a radius (C-B) using DKMT (NELT = 96)
1882 1. KATILI

6000 -
s 4000 -

2000 -

0 , . , . , . , . I . l . .
0 1 2 3 4 5 R 6

a) Rlh = SO

b ) Rth = 5

2
3-
1

c) Rlh = 2 S

Figure 17. Clamped circular plates under uniform loading. Displacements W, on a radius (C-B) using DKMT and DKT
(NELT = 96)

IDWi A B
5
Simple Supported plate:
w=&=O on boundary

Symmetry conditions:
px=O on BC and p=,O on CD

Figure 18. Square plate under uniform loading

 A NEW DISCRETE KIRCHHOFF-MINDLIN ELEMENT: PART I 1883

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The financial support of the French Government in the form of a scholarship to the author
is gratefully acknowledged. Moreover, the author thanks Prof. Jean-Louis Batoz, Dr. Salim
Bouabdallah and Dr. Rezak Ayad at the U.T.C., France, for their helpful comments and fruitful
discussions.

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