Boundary element analysis of zoned plates in bending

This paper presents a Boundary Element Method formulation for the analysis of plates with subregions with different thicknesses with the aim of analys ing building floors. Usually this problem is analysed using the subdivision of the floor into plates with the same thickness and by applying the bound ary equations for each subregion together with equilibrium and compatibilit y conditions. In this paper an alternative formulation is proposed in which the floor can be analysed as only one structural element and no compatibil ity nor equilibrium relationships are required. The boundary equations for points located at corners in which more than one subregion is connected are easily obtained. The proposed formulation also leads to smaller systems of equations, when compared with the usual subregion technique.