Triangular thick plate elements based on a hybrid-Trefftz approach

Abstract The paper presents a family of triangular, thick plate elements derived using the hybrid-Trefftz approach. Exact solutions of the governing thick plate equations are used as interpolations for the internal element displacements. An immediate benefit of this approach is that the locking problem is avoided a priori. Independent interpolations are used to describe the displacement and rotations on the element boundaries. The element formulation is based on a modified hybrid-stress principle, leading to a standard stiffness formulation. This enables the elements to be readily implemented into existing finite element schemes. A number of examples are considered to demonstrate the accuracy achieved by the elements.

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