A new plate finite element using integral representation interpolation

The purpose of this article is to propose a quadrilateral plate bending fin ite element with eight nodes. An integral representation of the second deri vatives over the quadrilateral element is developed in terms of the deflect ion and the normal slopes. This representation allows us to obtain a displa cement interpolation and consequently expresses the strain energy in terms of the usual degrees of freedom at the corner and the midside nodes, leadin g to the computation of an adequate stiffness matrix. Results prove the acc uracy of the method and the efficiency of an interpolation on an element us ing integral representations. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.