Question

In Classical Plate Theory, because the 4-noded rectangular element is non-conforming, it gives poor results in approximation.

(a) True

(b) False

I had been asked this question in class test.

My query is from Classical Plate Model topic in portion Bending of Elastic Plates of Finite Element Method

Answer 1

Right choice is (b) False

Best explanation: Elements that violate any of the continuity conditions are known as non-conforming elements. Thus, the four-node rectangular element with w approximated by a 12-term polynomial is non-conforming. Despite this deficiency, the element is known to give good results. A similar discussion leads to the conclusion that the three-node triangular element is the non-conforming type and found to have convergence problems and singular behavior for certain meshes.