| A new approach to plate theory is implemented and evaluated for accuracy.; Unlike most formulations based on initial assumptions of a polynomial shape for the though-thickness distribution of displacements, the only hypothesis is the following: well-chosen elementary loads are identified as a basis of the 'load space'. Hence, any load can be expressed as a linear combination of these Fundamental Loads. Therefore, the three dimensional solution is approximated as a combination of the through thickness solutions (Fundamental States) corresponding to these Fundamental Loads. This yields an internally consistent formulation, with newly defined degrees of freedom.; The intent of this thesis work is to prove this concept for the case of the plate, as a previous study on the equivalent beam theory gave excellent results. For this purpose, the scope is restricted to the Second Approximation : Only the first two Fundamental States, pure bending moment and pure shear resultants, are used to approximate the solution state. This is therefore equivalent to a shear deformation theory, like the Reissner-Mindlin plate formulation.; Comparison to Reissner-Mindlin results, and to full three dimensional (3D) results for a sandwich panel under different loading conditions, shows the capability of this new theory to accurately capture the three dimensional distribution of stresses and strains, especially the transverse shear components. |
