Reduced integration, nonconforming modes and their coupling in thin plate elements

Two new plate elements (designated as NC8-A and NC8-B) that are established by the combined use of reduced integration and addition of nonconforming displacement modes are presented in this paper. The results obtained by both NC8-A and NC8-B elements converged to the exact solutions very rapidly as the mesh is refined. These elements are also shown to be applicable to the wide range of plate problems, giving a high accuracy for extremely thin plate in particular.