A simple and efficient triangular finite element for plate bending

Presents the formulation of a new triangular finite element for plate bending. The element has 15 degrees of freedom: six displacements at the corners and midside nodes and nine rotations normal to the element side, three along each element side. The element is based on the Kirchhoff theory for plate bending and the shape functions are derived from a complete quartic polynomial. Presents a numerical assessment of the element, showing that the element passes the patch test and that it possesses a good converge rate. The stiffness matrix is integrated exactly.