Membrane plate patch test

Image of membrane plate

Objective

To present and verify the results obtained by FEEA SDK for the membrane plate elements patch test proposed by MacNeal and Harder. This example also demonstrates the application of prescribed displacement loading in FEEA SDK.

Problem description

In this example a rectangular plate with irregularly shaped elements is subjected to prescribed displacements at the edges that theoretically impose a constant stress field over the model. The above Figure shows the model to be analyzed.

The boundary conditions (applied prescribed displacements) of the model are calculated by the following equations:
· u = 0.001 * (x + y/2)
· v = 0.001 * (y + x/2)

Finite element model

The finite element model consists of five 4-node quadrilateral plane stress elements. See image below:

Image of the model

Solution

The theoretical solution is given in MacNeal and Harder [page 10, Table 2] and with the use of Timoshenko [page 6, equations (2)] we obtain:

Both the theoretical and the FEEA solution are listed below:

Membrane plate patch test - prescribed displacements
Reference0.0010.0010.0011333.331333.33400
FEEA SDK0.0010.0010.0011333.331333.33400

Conclusion

The results obtained with FEEA SDK show an exact comparison with the theoretical solution.