ADAPTIVE BOUNDARY ELEMENTS FOR PLATE-BENDING ANALYSIS

An adaptive boundary element method based on an error estimate using s ample point error analysis is applied to a bending problem for a thin elastic plate. The errors on each boundary element are estimated on th e basis of the magnitude of the solution discrepancy except at the bou ndary nodes employed for the analysis. A boundary element refinement, the h-version adaptive scheme, is implemented by employing the nondime nsional error indicator composed of two different kinds of indicators (extended error indicators), of which the dimensions are of deflection and of slope. The properties of the nondimensional error indicators a re examined through some simple numerical examples. The effectiveness of the proposed adaptive solution procedure is demonstrated through an alyses of square plates with various edge conditions.