On the linear analysis of plates and shells using a new-16 degrees of freedom flat shell element

In this paper, we present a new quadrilateral discrete Kirchhoff flat shell element (called DKQ16) with 16 degrees of Freedom (three displacements U, V W at each corner, a rotation theta(s) at each mid-side) for the linear an alysis of plates and shells. This new element is formulated on the basis of the so-called rational element method proposed by Zhong et al. [Zhong WX, Zeng J. J Computat Struct Mech Appl 1996;13:1-8 [in Chinese]]. In this new formulation, the rational quadrilateral plane element (RQ4) is employed for the membrane part and a new discrete Kirchhoff plate element DKQ8 proposed by the present authors [Batoz JL, Hammadi F, Zheng CL, Zhong WX, submitted for publication] is taken for the bending part. The DKQ16 element is one o f the most simple quadrilateral flat shell elements. It can be combined wit h the DKT12 (or Morley) element. Numerical results for some typical problem s demonstrate the overall good performance of the new shell element. (C) 20 00 Civil-Comp Ltd. and Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.