Force-Based Quadrilateral Plate Bending Element for Plate Using Large Increment Method

A force-based quadrilateral plate element( 4NQP13) for the analysis of the plate bending problems using large increment method( LIM) was proposed. The LIM, a force-based finite element method( FEM),has been successfully developed for the analysis of truss,beam,frame,and 2D continua problems. In these analyses,LIMcan provide more precise stress results and less computational time consumption compared with displacement-based FEM. The plate element was based on the Mindlin-Reissner plate theory which took into account the transverse shear effects.Numerical examples were presented to study its performance including accuracy and convergence behavior,and the results were compared with the results have been obtained from the displacementbased quadrilateral plate elements and the analytical solutions. The4NQP13 element can analyze the moderately thick plates and the thin plates using LIMand is free from spurious zero energy modes and free from shear locking for thin plate analysis.