HYBRID TREFFTZ FINITE-ELEMENT APPROACH FOR PLATE-BENDING ON AN ELASTIC-FOUNDATION

This paper presents a modified variational principle for the treatment of thin plate bending on an elastic foundation. The foundation may be of the Winkler or Pasternak type. A hybrid Trefftz (HT) finite-elemen t (FE) model has been developed based on the principle and a new set o f T-complete functions. The derivation of the new set of trial functio ns is based mainly on the resolution approach of the differential oper ator. Two numerical examples are considered to illustrate the correctn ess and accuracy of the proposed formulation.