• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.485-502
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• 2009

A new 8-node serendipity quadrilateral plate bending element (MQP8) based on the Mindlin-Reissner theory for the analysis of thin and moderately thick plate bending problems using Integrated Force Method is presented in this paper. The performance of this new element (MQP8) is studied for accuracy and convergence by analyzing many standard benchmark plate bending problems. This new element MQP8 performs excellent in both thin and moderately thick plate bending situations. And also this element is free from spurious/zero energy modes and free from shear locking problem.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.387-402
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• 2008

The Integrated Force Method (IFM) has been developed in recent years for the analysis of civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering structures. In this method all independent or internal forces are treated as unknown variables which are calculated by simultaneously imposing equations of equilibrium and compatibility conditions. The solution by IFM needs the computation of element equilibrium and flexibility matrices from the assumed displacement, stress-resultant fields and material properties. This paper presents a general purpose code for the automatic generation of element equilibrium and flexibility matrices for plate bending elements using the Integrated Force Method. Kirchhoff and the Mindlin-Reissner plate theories have been employed in the code. Paper illustrates development of element equilibrium and flexibility matrices for the Mindlin-Reissner theory based four node quadrilateral plate bending element using the Integrated Force Method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.583-597
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• 2023

This paper introduces a novel approach to multi-material topology optimization (MTO) targeting in-plane bi-directional functionally graded (IBFG) non-uniform thickness Reissner-Mindlin plates, employing an alternative active phase approach. The mathematical formulation integrates a first shear deformation theory (FSDT) to address compliance minimization as the objective function. Through an alternating active-phase algorithm in conjunction with the block Gauss-Seidel method, the study transforms a multi-phase topology optimization challenge with multi-volume fraction constraints into multiple binary phase sub-problems, each with a single volume fraction constraint. The investigation focuses on IBFG materials that incorporate adequate local bulk and shear moduli to enhance the precision of material interactions. Furthermore, the well-established mixed interpolation of tensorial components 4-node elements (MITC4) is harnessed to tackle shear-locking issues inherent in thin plate models. The study meticulously presents detailed mathematical formulations for IBFG plates in the MTO framework, underscored by numerous numerical examples demonstrating the method's efficiency and reliability.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.293-303
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• 2023

In this paper, geometrically nonlinear free vibration analysis of Mindlin viscoelastic plates with various geometrical and material properties is studied based on the Von-Karman assumptions. A novel solution is proposed in which the nonlinear frequencies of time-dependent plates are predicted according to the nonlinear frequencies of plates not dependent on time. This method greatly reduces the cost of calculations. The viscoelastic properties obey the Boltzmann integral law with constant bulk modulus. The SHPC meshfree method is employed for spatial discretization. The Laplace transformation is used to convert equations from the time domain to the Laplace domain and vice versa. Solving the nonlinear complex eigenvalue problem in the Laplace-Carson domain numerically, the nonlinear frequencies, the nonlinear viscous damping frequencies, and the nonlinear damping ratios are verified and calculated for rectangular, skew, trapezoidal and circular plates with different boundary conditions and different material properties.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.3 s.70
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• pp.295-303
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• 2004

In this paper, an improved four-node Reissner-Mindlin plate-bending element with enhanced assumed strain field is presented for the analysis of isotropic and laminated composite plates. To avoid the shear locking and spurious zero energy modes, the transverse shear behavior is improved by the addition of a new enhanced shear strain based on the incompatible displacement mode approach and bubble function. The "standard" enhanced strain fields (Andelfinger and Ramm, 1993) are also employed to improve the in-plane behaviors of the plate elements. The four-node quadrilateral element derived using the first-order shear deformation theory is designated as "14EASP". Several applications are investigated to assess the features and the performances of the proposed element. The results are compared with other finite element solutions and analytical solutions. Numerical examples show that the element is stable, invariant, passes the patch test, and yields good results especially in highly distorted regimes.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.255-262
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• 2013

In this paper, a shape design sensitivity analysis(DSA) method is presented for Mindlin plates using an isogeometric approach. The isogeometric method possesses desirable advantages; the representation of exact geometry and the higher order inter-element continuity, which lead to the fast convergence of solution as well as accurate sensitivity results. Unlike the finite element methods using linear shape functions, the isogeometric method considers the exact normal vector and curvature of the CAD geometry, taking advantages of higher order NURBS basis functions. A selective reduced integration(SRI) technique is incorporated to overcome the difficulty of 'shear locking' phenomenon. This simple technique is surprisingly helpful for the accuracy of the isogeometric shape sensitivity without complicated formulation. Through the numerical examples of plate bending problems, the accuracy of the proposed isogeometric analysis method is compared with that of finite element one. Also, the isogeometric shape sensitivity turns out to be very accurate when compared with finite difference sensitivity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.283-296
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• 2023

Free-vibration and buckling analyses of plate problems are investigated with the aid of the strain gradient notation finite element method (SGN-FEM). As SGN-FEM employs physically interpretable polynomials in developing finite elements, parasitic shear sources, which are the cause of shear locking, can be precisely identified and subsequently eliminated. This allows two mutually complementary objectives to be defined in this work, namely, evaluate the efficiency of free-vibration and buckling results provided by corrected models, and study the severity of parasitic shear effects on plate models performance. Parasitic shear are flexural terms erroneously present in shear strain polynomials. It is reviewed here that six parasitic shear terms arise during the formulation of the four-node Mindlin plate element. Two parasitic shear terms have been identified in the in-plane shear strain polynomial while other two have been identified in each of the transverse shear strain polynomials. The element is corrected a-priori, i.e., during development, by simply removing the spurious terms from the shear strain polynomials. The computational implementation of the element in its two versions, namely, containing the parasitic shear terms (PS) and corrected for parasitic shear (SG), allows for assessments of the accuracy of results and of the deleterious effects of parasitic shear in free vibration and buckling analyses. This assessment of the parasitic shear effects is a novelty of this work. Validation of the SG model is done comparing its results with analytical results and results provided by other numerical procedures. Analyses are performed for square plates with different thickness-to-length ratios and boundary conditions. Results for thin plates provided by the PS model do not converge to the correct solutions, which indicates that parasitic shear must be eliminated. That is, analysts should not rely on refinement alone. For thick plates, PS model results can be considered acceptable as deleterious effects are really critical in thin plates. On the other hand, results provided by the SG model converge well for both thin and thick plates. The effectiveness of the SG model is established via high-accuracy results obtained in several examples. It is concluded that corrected SGN-FEM models are efficient alternatives for free-vibration and buckling analysis of Mindlin plate problems, and that precise elimination of parasitic shear is a requirement for sound analyses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.631-632
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• 2010

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.409-415
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• 2010

A finite element model for punching shear of flat plate structures is presented. A parametric study also has been conducted to verification of influence of several parameters in terms of the flexural reinforcement ratio, slab thickness. Reisnner-Mindlin assumptions are adopted to consider of shear deformation. Layered shell element is considered for the material non-linearities. The finite element model of this study was verified comparing with existing experimental results. The model is able to predict the capacity of the flat plate structures. The punching shear of flat plate structures varied depending on the flexural reinforcement ratio, slab thickness.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.527-546
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• 2018

This article presents an analysis into the nonlinear forced vibration of a micro cylindrical shell reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with considering agglomeration effects. The structure is subjected to magnetic field and transverse harmonic mechanical load. Mindlin theory is employed to model the structure and the strain gradient theory (SGT) is also used to capture the size effect. Mori-Tanaka approach is used to estimate the equivalent material properties of the nanocomposite cylindrical shell and consider the CNTs agglomeration effect. The motion equations are derived using Hamilton's principle and the differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to solve them for obtaining nonlinear frequency response of the cylindrical shells. The effect of different parameters including magnetic field, CNTs volume percent and agglomeration effect, boundary conditions, size effect and length to thickness ratio on the nonlinear forced vibrational characteristic of the of the system is studied. Numerical results indicate that by enhancing the CNTs volume percent, the amplitude of system decreases while considering the CNTs agglomeration effect has an inverse effect.