Performance of heterosis element for bending of skew rhombic plates

Abstract

A critical analysis of parallelogram-shaped plates under bending using a Mindlin nine-node Heterosis element is carried out. The performance of this quadratic quadrilateral element is evaluated on isotropic rhombic skew plates up to large skew angles with different support conditions and under uniformly distributed as well as point loads. The suitability and limitations of the element for each case are clearly brought out. The numerical results of the present formulation are compared with the available data in the literature. Morley's acute skew plate involving singularity is studied in detail. Oblique boundary transformation required for all the sides simply supported boundary condition is discussed. In addition, numerical results for transverse shear forces are presented for the first time in the literature, for future reference.