Question

In the Shear Deformation plate theory, when does the transverse shear strains in the element equations present computational difficulties?

(a) If the plate is thick

(b) If the side to thickness ratio of the plate is large

(c) If the side to thickness ratio of the plate is small

(d) If higher-order finite elements are used

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Question is from Shear Deformable Plate Model in portion Bending of Elastic Plates of Finite Element Method

Answer 1

Correct answer is (b) If the side to thickness ratio of the plate is large

Explanation: The transverse shear strains in the element equations of Shear Deformation Theory present computational difficulties when the side-to-thickness ratio of the plateis large (say 50, i.e., when the plate becomes thin). For thin plates, the transverse shear strains are negligible, and consequently, the element stiffness matrix becomes stiff and yields erroneous results for the generalized displacements. This phenomenon is known as shear locking.