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TRANSACTIONS PAPER
C W LAW
Housing Department, the HKSAR
Government
Y M CHENG
Department of Civil and Structural
Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University
Y YANG
Department of Civil and Structural
Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University
Introduction
Pile caps, transfer plates and raft foundations are important and expensive
thick structures. With the extensive use of computer methods nowadays,
the flexible plate assumption which has taken into account the out-ofplane flexibilities of plate bending structures have been extensively
employed in the structural analysis of thick plate structures. In the
analysis, even though the flexural deformations are often the most
important deformations, shear deformations cannot be ignored when
the plate thickness is appreciable, as otherwise the deformation will
be under-estimated. Whilst the mathematical formulation of the plate
bending model (by the finite element method) is relatively simple for thin
plate structures where the shear deformation is ignored (the Kirchhoff
plate), the formulation of the thick plate structures involving shear
deformation is more complicated. In the past few decades, many thick
plate elements have been proposed and used by different investigators
(Zienkiewicz and Taylor, 2000, 2005; Katili, 1993; Reddy, 2000; Szilard,
2004). A detailed review about the recent development of the thick plate
elements was conducted by Cheng and Law (2008). Among the various
plate bending finite elements, the thick plate element by Ibrahimbegovic
(1992, 1993) (termed IB element in the previous and this study) is one
of the most popular thick plate elements currently adopted by engineers
in Hong Kong. The IB element has been demonstrated to be good and
accurate by Cheng and Law (2005, 2008) and Law and Cheng (2006)
if the mesh is regular and the boundary conditions are normal. For
problems with highly irregular meshes, this paper has however identified
serious problems with the IB elements (2005, 2006, 2008) from some
projects in Hong Kong.
A thick plate structure is commonly simulated as an assembly of four
nodes or three nodes plate elements as shown in Fig 1(a). The elements
are joined together at their corner nodes. However, the most primitive
formulation (in terms of shape functions) of the four nodes or three
nodes element can at most yield linear or bi-linear variations of stresses
(the term stress is a finite element terminology referring to moments
or shears per unit width which will be used consistently in this paper) in
bending and shear within itself, and its simulation of the real behaviour
12
analytical results when the mesh is coarse and the thickness of the plate
is relatively thin as identified and discussed by Cheng and Law (2008)
and Law and Cheng (2006). Further analysis with the IB element for a
simple problem with regular mesh will be demonstrated by a cantilever
slab in this paper which gives surprising results to the authors.
Under irregular meshing (which have to be employed for irregular plan
shapes of plate structures), it is noticed that the IB element performs
less satisfactorily in the analysis. The shear jump problem under some
circumstances emerges. This is a phenomenon of which a large difference
in shear stresses (constituting jumps) is noted at a node among the
adjacent IB elements meeting and the node is neither a support nor having
heavy point loads (Law and Cheng, 2006; Cheng and Law, 2008). Such
a large difference is obviously erratic by simple engineering judgment,
as although generally the finite element method does give different
stresses for different elements at the adjoining node, the variation of
the stresses should not be significant (unless there is an external point
load by an applied load or a support reaction) so that the variations of
stresses across them are smooth and such smoothness should increase
if the mesh is adequately fine. In fact, such a large difference implies
inaccuracy and poor performance of the element. For the IB element,
this problem is more critical when the mesh is highly irregular or at
junctions where quadrilateral and triangular elements meet.
To overcome the various limitations of the IB element and to further
improve numerical accuracy, methods are developed in this paper to
tackle the shear jump problem and a new thick plate element PLATE-9
is formulated. For comparison purpose, the DKT (discrete Kirchhoff theory)
element in ANSYS and the IB element in SAFE/SAP2000 were tried. The
DKT element ignores the shear deformations with orthogonality of the
normals to the mid-plane retained in its formulation. Babuska and Scapolia
(1989) have pointed out the inaccuracy of the Kirchhoff plate model which
occurs in the analysis of skewed plates, even when they are thin. The
well-known problems of deriving conforming C1 continuous thin plate and
shell elements motivated a number of authors to explore the applications
of the Reissner-Mindlin theory which relaxes the normal orthogonality
condition, thereby introducing the effect of shear deformation which is
of practical importance in thick plate formulations. Among them, the
IB element takes shear deformation into account. In the IB element, in
order to construct the displacement and rotation interpolation free of
shear locking, the Kirchhoff mode must be attainable. Therefore, the
displacement interpolation should be a polynomial of order of one
degree higher than the polynomial which interpolates the rotations. If
an isoparametric displacement interpolation is used, it is impossible to
have a constant shear strain and this will lead to an overly stiff bending
response, ie shear locking phenomenon. Ibrahimbegovic (1989) has
applied a special trick to force a special term to zero which is equivalent
to an assumed strain method to relieve the shear locking problem of the
element. This approach is less natural than the approach by Law and
Cheng (2006) and Cheng and Law (2008) where all the coefficients of
the interpolation polynomials are determined from the minimum energy
principle. It can be demonstrated that the PLATE-9 element can achieve
higher accuracy and convergence than the popular IB element and the
DKT element in ANSYS, even for analysis with coarse meshes. The more
important feature is that this new element can well capture the change
of internal forces near to supports while other existing elements need
finer meshing to achieve similar accuracy.
of the shear stresses. Method (II) is suitable for a case that there are
more nodes and points with shear jumps.
Method (I): Interpolation by Shears of Four or Six Nodes for a Single
Shear Jump
13
From Fig 3, an example is shown for the use of method (II) to interpolate
the shear stresses of P33 , P34 , P43 and P44 from the known and more
reasonable shear forces from Kij . Therefore the value of shear forces
from Kij must first be checked to be reasonable, otherwise a finer grid of
finite elements should be used instead. In method (II), the value of shear
force Pij is calculated by the mean value of interpolation along x-direction
and y-direction from the known points Kij. By considering the calculation
of the shear stresses on the faces of the elements perpendicular to the
x-direction, they can be expressed as follows:
SX(x) = A0 + A1x + A2x2 + A3x3
0
1
X = 23.985
X = 24
X = 24.103
X = 24.23
Y = 7.9
28.511
373.729
457.633
256.585
1,515.668
Y = 7.771
-108.891
439.227
1,420.216
-1,362.12
1,217.982
Y = 7.739
-329.734
21,409.07
24,517.96
-1,684.63
-86.422
Y = 7.725
-1,217.07
77,918.23
57,522.08
-425.255
93.367
Y = 7.7
-648.822
11,662.24
12,376.36
157.152
16.887
Y = 7.6
11.977
-1,223.56
-554.453
960.752
198.497
Table 1 The Numerical Values of VXX before Correction; X,Y Indicate Coordinates of Locations
14
X = 23.75
X = 23.985
X = 24
X = 24.103
X = 24.23
28.511
373.729
457.633
256.585
1,515.668
Y = 7.771
-108.891
439.227
1,420.216
-1,362.12
1,217.982
Y = 7.739
-329.734
-963.822
-464.462
-1,684.63
-86.422
Y = 7.725
-1,217.07
-449.238
75.1095
-425.255
93.367
Y = 7.7
-648.822
-196.528
306.103
157.152
16.887
Y = 7.6
11.977
-1,223.56
-554.453
960.752
198.497
Y = 7.9
-114.95
86.672
393.674
565.854
296.399
Table 2 The Numerical Values of Corrected VXX ; X,Y indicate Coordinates of Locations
15
3t (1 + m)
db =
10b + 6t2 (1 + m)
gx4 = gs34
d =
6t (1 + m)
r = 0.5 =
3 (1 2d)
2L
gy4 = gs41
wi
3 (1 2d)
2L
1 3
1 3
wj + + d i + + dj
4 4 (9)
4 4
gx
g =
gy
(14)
0
0
0
0
0
gy = gy1N1 + gy2N2 + gy3N3 + gy4N4
N4 =
1
4
(1 x)(1 + h)
By substituting Eqn (12) and Eqn (13) into Eqn (15) and after simplification,
= B Sae where:
B S = [B S1B S2] (16)
and
Figure 10 Symbols and Sign Convention of the Shear Deformable Beam
The stiffness matrix of the element will be the sum of the shear stiffness
matrix and the bending stiffness matrix as:
e
K = K s + K b (11)
Shear Stiffness Matrix
e
The shear stiffness matrix K s is first derived. By Eqn (8), the transverse
(out-of-plane) shear strains g along the edges 12, 23, 34, 41 are listed
as follows:
(1 h)da (1 h)da
0
2a
2
B S1 =
(1 x)db
(1 x)db
0
2b
2
(1+ h)da
2a
B S2 =
(1+ x)db
2b
(1+ h)da
2
0
(1 h)da
(1 h)da
2a
(1+ x)db
2b
(1+ h)da
(1+ h)da
2a
(1+ x)db
(1 x)db
2b
(1+ x)db
2
0
(1 x)db
2
0
a 2
=
2(1 + m) 6 0 1 12(1 + m) 0 1
6 0 1
d
d
gs23 = b w2 + b w3 dbx2 dbx3
b
b
The stiffness matrix for shear can be obtained as:
(12)
1 1
da
d
1 1
gs34 =
w4 + a w3 da y4 da y3
e
T
T
.
K s = Bs Ds B S | J | d x d h = ab Bs Ds B S . d x d h (18)
a
a
gs41 =
db
b
w1 +
db
b
w4 dby1 day4
where da =
3t (1 + m)
;
10a + 6t2 (1 + m)
t
5
(1 + m)
+2
6
2a
16
1 1
t
(1 + m)
2a
1 1
y y5 =
2
1
y x8 =
(yy3 + yy4 );
x =
4a
3 (1 2db)
y6 =
(yx2 + yx3 ); y y7 =
3 (1 2da)
x5 =
(yy1 + yy2 ); y x6 =
By substituting Eqn (21) and Eqn (22) into Eqn (24), the followings are
listed:
4b
w1
w2
3 (1 2da)
w2 +
4a
3 (1 2db)
w3 +
4b
3
2
3
2
da x1 +
db y2 +
3
2
3
2
da x2
3 (1 2da)
4a
w4
3 (1 2da)
w3 +
4a
3
2
da x3 +
3
2
db y3
da x4
3 (1 2db)
y8 =
4b
w1
3 (1 2db)
w4 +
4b
3
2
dby1 +
3
2
db y4
(20)
It should be noted that the displacements of node 9 are first expressed
in terms of that of nodes 5, 6, 7 and 8 by Eqn (9) and by substituting
Eqn (20) and then using Eqn (10), it is finally expressed in terms of the
displacements of the corner nodes.
3 (1 2db )
x9 =
w1 +
8b
3
4
3 a(1 2db )
16b
db x1
y1
3 (1 2db )
8b
w2
1 3
1 3
3 a(1 2db )
3 (1 2db )
y2
w3 + + db x3
+ + db x2 +
8 4
8 4
16b
8b
3 a(1 2db )
16b
y3 +
3 (1 2db )
8b
1 3
3 a(1 2db )
w4 + + db x4 +
y4
8 4
16b
y9 =
+
8a
3 b(1 2da)
16a
w1
3 b(1 2da)
x2 +
16a
+
3
4
x1
3 (1 2da )
8a
w3
3 b(1 2da )
16a
(22)
The shape functions of the nine node element can be listed as:
=
1
4
1
4
xh(1 x)(1 h) N 5 =
1
4
xh(1 + x )(1 h) N 6 =
xh(1 + x)(1 + h) N 7 =
1
4
1
2
1
2
xh(1 x )(1 + h) N 8 =
1
2
(1 x )h (1 + h)
(23)
i=1
i=1
3 a(1 2db )
N9 3 (1 2db )
w1
N9 x1 +
4b
16b
2
N 3 (1 2db )
N 1 3
N
N1 + 5 + N8 + 9 + db y1 + N6 + 9
w2
2
4b
2 4 2
2
3 a(1 2db )
16b
N5
N9 x2 + N2 +
N 1 3
+ N6 + 9 + db y2
2 4 2
N
N 1 3
N3 + 7 + N6 + 9 + db y3 N8 + N9 3 (1 2db ) w
4
4
2
2
2
2
4b
3 a(1 2db )
16b
N9 x4 + N4 +
N 1 3
+ N8 + 9 + db y4
2 4 2
2
N7
(26)
kx
k = ky
kxy
yx
yy
y
y
y
x
x
y
(27)
Ni yxi ; yy = Ni y yi
(25)
x(1 x )(1 h )
The nodal rotations for the pseudo nine node element are determined
by the classical element shape function as:
yx =
(1 x )h (1 h) N 9 = (1 x )(1 h )
N
3 (1 2da)
N7 + 9 w +
4
2
4a
16a
N9 y3 +
x(1 + x )(1 h )
3 b(1 2da )
y = N8 +
x3
1 3
1 3
3 (1 2da )
3 b(1 2da)
w4 +
x4 + + da y4
+ + da y3
8 4
8 4
8a
16a
N1
N
2
N3
N4
3 (1 2da)
N
N 1 3
N
N7 + 9 w + N3 + 6 + N7 + 9 + da x3
3
4a
2
2 4 2
2
3 a(1 2db )
N 3 (1 2db)
N9 x3 +
w3
N6 + 9
16b
4b
2
1 3
3 (1 2da)
+ + da y1 +
w2
8 4
8a
da y2
16a
3 (1 2da)
N
N5 + 9 w +
2
4a
2
N9 y1
N 1 3
N
3 b(1 2da )
N4 + 8 + N7 + 9 + da x4 +
N9 y4
2 4 2
2
16a
(21)
3 (1 2da)
3 b(1 2da )
N 1 3
N
N1 + 8 + N5 + 9 + da x1
2 4 2
2
N 1 3
3 b(1 2da )
N
N2 + 6 + N5 + 9 + da x2 +
N9 y2
2 4 2
16a
2
x7 =
N
3 (1 2da)
N5 + 9 w +
1
2
4a
(24)
yx h
yx 1 yy
yx
yy x
yy
.
.
.
,
=
=
etc
=
=
h y
h b
y
x
x x
x
Using
and by appropriately differentiating Eqn (25) and Eqn (26), the B matrix
for bending as equated by k = B Bae can be presented as B B = [B B1 B B2
B B3 B B4] where:
17
B B1 =
3(1 2da) x (1 h )
4a
(1 h)(1 3x + 6dax)
4a
3(1 2db) (1 x )h
4b2
(1 x)(1 3h + 6dbh)
8b2
4b
8ab
8b
8a
4a
8a2
3(1 2da) x (1 h )
4a2
8ab
B B3 =
8b2
(1+ x)[1 3x 6da(1 x) ] + 3(1 2db ) x (1 h )
8b
8a
4b
2
4b2
4a
3a(1 2db) (1 x 2)h
8b2
8ab
8b
8a
4a2
3(1 2db) (1 x )h
B B4 =
4b2
8ab
M
x
3
Et
M = D k and D =
y
b
b
12(1 m2)
Mxy
4a
8a
(1 x)(1+ 3h 6dbh)
8b2
4b
8b
8a
1 m 0
1 0
m
1m
0
(28)
(29)
(30)
b a
1 1
1 1
e
where D =
Et
12(1 m)
2w
Mx = D
+m
2
2
2w
w
w
; My = D 2 + m 2 and
2
y
x
y
2
Mxy = D (1 m)
Figure 12(a) Moment along Span of Cantilever for Case (1) of Figure 11
PLATE Q-8 on the Left and PLATE Q-9 on the Right
w
x y2
The external potential energy for Case (1) of Fig 11 will be:
V = Pw(0, b) + Pw(a, b) and for Case (2)
(36)
w
w
w
V = Pw(0, b) + MX x
+ MX x
+ Pw(a, b) + MY x
y (0, b)
x (0, b)
x (a, b)
+ MY x
w
y
(37)
(a, b)
where P, MX and MY are the applied loads and moments at the free
corners. To minimise the total energy = U + V, differentiation is
performed with respect to the coefficients c1 and c2 in Eqn (33) such that:
Figure 12(b) Moment along Span of Cantilever for Case (2) of Figure 11
PLATE Q-8 on the Left and PLATE Q-9 on the Right
where x and y are coordinates defined in Fig 13 and the functions X(x)
and Y(y) are:
x
2x3
x4
X(x) = c1 + c2 3 + 4
(33)
A
A
A
3y2
y3
Y(y) = 2 3
B
B
The Ritz W Method is carried out with minimisation of the sum of the
internal energy and external potential energy. For the plate structure,
the former is the sum of the bending and twisting energies given as:
y x
y x
y x
1 2
1 2
1 2
U=
M
dxdy
+
M
dxdy
+
M
dxdy
(35)
x
y
xy
2D y
2D
2D
y1 x1
(38)
(34)
The X(x) function is chosen such that symmetry can be achieved at the
axis x = A/2 and the Y(y) is in fact the deflection shape of a cantilever
beam. c1 and c2 are coefficients to be determined. A higher order function
for Y(y) has been tried but it is found that the coefficients from 4th order
upwards are zero from Ritz energy minimisation analyses. Ge and Liu
(1999) and Yuan (1993) have demonstrated that for cantilever slab under
uniformly distributed load, the use of Eqn (32) will be adequate when
compared with infinite series solution (error around 2%).
= 0 and
= 0
c1
c2
y1 x1
x1
Figure 14 Moment along Span of Y-axis for Cases (1) and (2) of Figure
11 by the Ritz W Method with Case (1) on the Left and Case (2) on the
Right
Since only one element is used for the present study, the performance
of the element near location with high variation in internal forces is
clearly illustrated. It can be readily seen that the structural behaviour
of PLATE-9 element is closer to the reality than that of the PLATE-8
element. Finally, the shear jump problem in the raft footing (Fig 4) as
discussed in the foregoing is re-analysed by the PLATE-9 element with
results as shown in Fig 15. It is noticed that the unreasonable shear
jump of nearly 4,000 kN/m at x = 23.985m by the IB element does
not appear, demonstrating the good accuracy of the PLATE-9 element
for a problem with highly distorted mesh.
Numerical Examples
19
Although the moment stress contours follow a similar pattern with that
of TMQ-9 element and that by series (demonstrating a well-known
phenomenon that results from finite element analysis can converge to
accurate values at fine meshing), SAFE gives high stress concentration at
nodes where there are applied moments. The stress concentration effect
becomes more pronounced with the increasing degrees of meshing which
is also a common phenomenon in finite element analysis. In comparison,
the proposed plate element PLATE-9 is a simple quadrilateral element
that can give accurate results even at a single element configuration.
Similar analysis by the famous large-scale finite element programme
ANSYS has also been carried out for the present problem, with the DKT
plate element. When four DKT elements are used, the moment contours
as shown in Fig 17 are practically straight lines without indication of any
corner effects. Since the results are poor, different meshes have been
tried, and it is found that a mesh with a minimum of 64 elements is
required before the curvature of the moment contours as shown in Fig 18
becomes obvious. The results in Fig 18 are also similar to the results in
Fig 12 by PLATE-9 and Fig 14 by the analytical solution by series. From
these results, it can be concluded that PLATE-9 has the best performance
as it can, such that by using one element, yield results similar to that
with 64 DKT elements in ANSYS with many elements.
Many thick plates have been developed (Zienkeiwicz and Taylor, 2005)
for the past 20 years. The current formulation of PLATE-9 possesses
Figure 16(b) Moment along Span (Y-axis) for Cases (1) and (2) of Figure
11 by the SAFE of Meshing 20 x 20 with Case (1) on the Left and Case
(2) on the Right
20
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the project Enhanced analysis and design of
thick plate structures 87T3 by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
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21
22
Y YANG MSc
Email: yangy30@hotmail.com
Mr Yang obtained his masters degree from the
University of Science and Technology, Beijing and is
currently a PhD research student at the Hong Kong
Polytechnic University. His research areas include
both geotechnical engineering as well as structural
engineering.