Over the past decade or so much has been written on the various attempts to produce efficient, accurate and reliable Mindlin plate finite elements. In the late sixties, a degenerated, Mindlin-type, curved shell element was developed and subsequently many improvements in such elements have been made. Reliability and efficiency in use has always been a major objective. Degenerated shell elements have enjoyed widespread popularity despite certain potential defects, including shear and membrane lock ing behaviour and spurious mechanisms. After introducing the basic foundations of Mindlin-type elements, this book describes these defects and also gives the reasons for their occurrence. Furthermore, the author proposes an approach to overcome these defects. A series of linear benchmark tests are proposed to illustrate the performance of the assumed strain element formulations. The formula tions and applications for material non-linearity are also presented. Both isotropic and anisotropic material models are included together with the results for both static and transient dynamic analyses. Two associated programs are fully documented and provided on floppy discs with test examples. Source codes for the two associated programs are provided: one is for static analysis and the other for dynamic analysis, and the programs can be compiled and run on either a mini or mainframe coniputer via a terminal. The author hopes that this book may provide further impetus in the important research area of plate and shell element technology.

Smart structures that contain embedded piezoelectric patches are loaded by both mechanical and electrical fields. Traditional plate and shell theories were developed to analyze structures subject to mechanical loads. However, these often fail when tasked with the evaluation of both electrical and mechanical fields and loads. In recent years more advanced models have been developed that overcome these limitations. Plates and Shells for Smart Structures offers a complete guide and reference to smart structures under both mechanical and electrical loads, starting with the basic principles and working right up to the most advanced models. It provides an overview of classical plate and shell theories for piezoelectric elasticity and demonstrates their limitations in static and dynamic analysis with a number of example problems. This book also provides both analytical and finite element solutions, thus enabling the reader to compare strong and weak solutions to the problems. Key features: compares a large variety of classical and modern approaches to plates and shells, such as Kirchhoff-Love , Reissner-Mindlin assumptions and higher order, layer-wise and mixed theories introduces theories able to consider electromechanical couplings as well as those that provide appropriate interface continuity conditions for both electrical and mechanical variables considers both static and dynamic analysis accompanied by a companion website hosting dedicated software MUL2 that is used to obtain the numerical solutions in the book, allowing the reader to reproduce the examples given as well as solve problems of their own The models currently used have a wide range of applications in civil, automotive, marine and aerospace engineering. Researchers of smart structures, and structural analysts in industry, will find all they need to know in this concise reference. Graduate and postgraduate students of mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering can also use this book in their studies. www.mul2.com

An authoritative guide to the theory and practice of static and dynamic structures analysis Static and Dynamic Analysis of Engineering Structures examines static and dynamic analysis of engineering structures for methodological and practical purposes. In one volume, the authors – noted engineering experts – provide an overview of the topic and review the applications of modern as well as classic methods of calculation of various structure mechanics problems. They clearly show the analytical and mechanical relationships between classical and modern methods of solving boundary value problems. The first chapter offers solutions to problems using traditional techniques followed by the introduction of the boundary element methods. The book discusses various discrete and continuous systems of analysis. In addition, it offers solutions for more complex systems, such as elastic waves in inhomogeneous media, frequency-dependent damping and membranes of arbitrary shape, among others. Static and Dynamic Analysis of Engineering Structures is filled with illustrative examples to aid in comprehension of the presented material. The book: Illustrates the modern methods of static and dynamic analysis of structures; Provides methods for solving boundary value problems of structural mechanics and soil mechanics; Offers a wide spectrum of applications of modern techniques and methods of calculation of static, dynamic and seismic problems of engineering design; Presents a new foundation model. Written for researchers, design engineers and specialists in the field of structural mechanics, Static and Dynamic Analysis of Engineering Structures provides a guide to analyzing static and dynamic structures, using traditional and advanced approaches with real-world, practical examples.

The analysis of plates and shells under static and dynamic loads is of greatinterest to scientists and engineers both from the theoretical and the practical viewpoint. The Boun- dary Element Method (BEM) has some distinct advantages over domain techniques such as the Finite Difference Method (FDM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM) for a wide class of structuralanalysis problems. This is the first book to deal specifically with the analysis of plates and shells by the BEM and to cover all aspects of their behaviour, and combi- nes tutorial and state-of-the-art articles on the BEM as ap- plied to plates and shells. It aims to inform scientists and engineers about the use and the advantages of this techni- que, the most recent developments in the field and the per- tinent literature for further study.

Thermal Stress Analysis of Composite Beams, Plates and Shells: Computational Modelling and Applications presents classic and advanced thermal stress topics in a cutting-edge review of this critical area, tackling subjects that have little coverage in existing resources. It includes discussions of complex problems, such as multi-layered cases using modern advanced computational and vibrational methods. Authors Carrera and Fazzolari begin with a review of the fundamentals of thermoelasticity and thermal stress analysis relating to advanced structures and the basic mechanics of beams, plates, and shells, making the book a self-contained reference. More challenging topics are then addressed, including anisotropic thermal stress structures, static and dynamic responses of coupled and uncoupled thermoelastic problems, thermal buckling, and post-buckling behavior of thermally loaded structures, and thermal effects on panel flutter phenomena, amongst others. - Provides an overview of critical thermal stress theory and its relation to beams, plates, and shells, from classical concepts to the latest advanced theories - Appeals to those studying thermoelasticity, thermoelastics, stress analysis, multilayered structures, computational methods, buckling, static response, and dynamic response - Includes the authors' unified formulation (UF) theory, along with cutting-edge topics that receive little coverage in other references - Covers metallic and composite structures, including a complete analysis and sample problems of layered structures, considering both mesh and meshless methods - Presents a valuable resource for those working on thermal stress problems in mechanical, civil, and aerospace engineering settings

This e-book focuses on the vibrational and nonlinear aspects of plate and shell structure dynamics by applying the finite element model. Specifically, shell finite elements employed in the computational studies included in this book are the mixed formulation based lower order flat triangular shell finite elements. Topics in the book are covered over nine chapters, including the theoretical background for the vibration analysis of plates and shells, vibration analysis of plate structures, shells with single curvature, shells with double curvatures, and box structures (single-cell and double-cell) and the theoretical development for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of plate and shell structures. In addition to presenting the steps in the derivations of the consistent element stiffness and mass matrices, constitutive relations of elastic materials and elasto-plastic materials with isotropic strain hardening, yield criterion, return mapping, configuration and stress updating strategies, and numerical algorithms are presented and discussed. The book is a suitable reference for advanced undergraduates and post-graduate level engineering students, research engineers, and scientists working in the field of applied physics and engineering.

This book by a renowned structural engineer offers comprehensive coverage of both static and dynamic analysis of plate behavior, including classical, numerical, and engineering solutions. It contains more than 100 worked examples showing step by step how the various types of analysis are performed.