An improved discrete Kirchhoff triangular element for bending, vibration and buckling analyses

In this paper, an improved triangular discrete Kirchhoff thin plate element IMDKT is introduced for bending, vibration and buckling analysis. In the c ase of bending analysis, new boundary displacements coupled with a correcti on factor are introduced in the proposed element for improving the accuracy . As for vibration and buckling analyses, the combined mass and combined ge ometric stiffness matrices are employed to improve the calculations of natu ral frequency and buckling load, respectively. Several numerical examples h ave been used to illustrate the versatility and potential accuracy of the p resent methods. A comparison between the proposed and some existing element s shows that the former is superior to the latter for thin plate bending, v ibration and buckling analyses. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicale s Elsevier SAS.