A strip element method for bending analysis of orthotropic plates

Abstract

A strip element method is presented to determine bending solutions of orthotropic plates. In this method, the plate is discretized into strip elements in one direction. By using the principle of minimum potential energy to a strip element, a set of fourth-order ordinary differential equations with respect to the other direction are derived. By assembling the corresponding equations of adjacent strip elements, differential equations for the whole plate are obtained. These equations can be solved analytically by using the Fourier transform method. The deflection distribution is determined by using the boundary conditions. Numerical examples for an orthotropic plate are presented and it is shown that the strip element method is an efficient and accurate numerical method for the plate bending analysis.