Mindlin-Reissner theory based new 4-node quadrilateral plate bending element for integrated force method

The Integrated Force Method (IFM) is a novel matrix formulation developed for analyzing civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering structures. In this method all independent/internal forces are treated as unknown variables which are calculated by simultaneously imposing equations of equilibrium and compatibility conditions. This paper presents formulation of a new four-node quadrilateral plate bending element based on the Mindlin-Reissner plate theory for analyzing the plate bending problems using IFM. The performance of this proposed element is studied by considering plate bending benchmark problems and the results are compared with those of the displacement based finite elements along with the exact solutions. The performance of the element is quite excellent for both thin and moderately thick plate bending situations.