comp,,ers & Srrucrures Vol. 36. No. 3. pp. 547-551.

1990
Printed in Great Britain.

A SHEAR LOCKING FREE SIX-NODE MINDLIN

BENDING ELEMENT

004%7949/90 s3.00 + 0.00

1990

Pergamon
Resaplc

PLATE

M. H. VERWOERDand A. W. M. KOK~
Department of Civil Engineering, Room 5.22, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1,
2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
(Received 17 July 1989)

Abstract-This paper presents the introduction of an isoparametric six-node plate element (SHELL6)
which is free of shear locking. The element has been based upon the Mindlin/Reissner plate bending theory
and is suited for the calculation of thick and thin plates. Some samples are shown to demonstrate the
accuracy of the new element.

INTRODUCTION
For thin plate structures shear locking [l] is a well
known phenomenon. For quadrilateral elements the
reduced integration technique [2-41 is well known in
solving the locking problems.
To model every structure shape some triangles are
usually needed. For the six-node triangle the results
are not satisfactory. Application of reduced integration techniques (the three-point integration rule)
does not improve the results. In particular, the results
of the shear forces are very poor. Consequently, the
six-node bending element is very often neglected in
the finite elements software.
To improve the quality of this element, an alternative solution is found to solve the shear locking of
these elements.

Based upon these hypotheses the so-called Mindlin

plate element has been formulated.
Kinematic relations

The membrane

and are dependent on z.

The transverse shear strains are given by:

and

are constant with respect to z.

Constitutive relations

HYPOTHESES
Thick plate and shell elements have been based
upon the hypotheses of Mindlin/Reissner
bending
theory [5-71 and given by:
Rigid pin hypothesis-A
rigid pin, normal to the
midplane, remains a straight pin after deformation.
Plane stress hypothesis-The
normal stress Q,, is
neglected.
Transverse shear strain hypothesis-Transverse
shear strains and stresses are assumed to be constant
about the thickness of the plate.
Following the Mindlin theory the displacements
[u, u, w] at (x, y, z) are formulated as functions of the
midplane (z = 0), translations u, v and w, and
rotations 4, and &, Fig. 1, following:

For a linear, isotropic material the normal stress

u,, = 0, the membrane stresses, u,, and the transverse
shear stresses, u,, are related to the membrane strains
and the transverse shear strains, respectively, by
u, =

Drt,

where

(4b)

u =u+z&
v =v-z4,y

strains are given by:

a, = Gt,

(1)

where

w =w.
G=-

t To whom correspondence
CAS 36,)_-K

should be addressed.

547

kE
1
2(1 +v) [ 0

548

M. H. VERWOERD
and A. W. M. KOK
Substituting eqns (5b) and (6b) for &, and &,, the
strain energy is discretized for an element, and given
by,

duB;GB,udV.

(8)

s
Fig. 1. Rigid pin and midplane deformation.

The variables E and v are the Youngs modulus

and Poissons ratio, and k is the shape factor
(k = 5/6).

Finite element formulation

For the six-node triangular element the same set of
shape functions [8] is used to approximate all the
midplane displacements.
The displacements, the translations (U, v , w ) and
the rotations (4, and 4,) are related to the nodal
displacements
II: = [up, up, wp, c$,,, &]
by shape
functions a,(x, y). The Appendix gives the expression
for the shape functions of the quadratic triangular
plate element.
The strain vectors L, and L, of eqns (2) and (3) are
now described by:

For thick plates the usual three-point integration

rule yields acceptable results. For thin plates, transverse shear deformations
dominate the stiffness
matrix (shear locking).
The base of the poor behaviour is found in the
inhomogeneous
composition
of the contributing
terms to the shear strains. The strains in the F.E.M.
are calculated following the kinematic relations of
eqn (3).
Shear locking is assumed to be introduced by the
obligate quadratic terms of y, vs the linear approximation of w,,. The result is an overly stiff element.
A refined transverse shear strain approximation is
proposed by the addition of correction terms to the
displacement field w. The function of these correction
terms is to neutralize the quadratic contribution of
f& in yXZas f#~,in yyZ.
Correction terms
Shear strains are obtained by:
7x1= 4. + w,,
@a)
Yyl= - 4, + w.Y
For each direction s, the transverse shear strains can
be written as

or
c, =

B,u

(5b)

and

Y,= 9, + w.,,

(9b)

where 4 is the quadratic polynomial and w,,

linear polynomial. Shear locking is introduced
the quadratic terms of 4,. The shear locking of
SHELL6 element can be eliminated by addition
correction terms, Aw.

the
by
the
of

rt=r,+Av,

(loa)

Y: = w,, + 4. + Aw,,

(1W

or
or
L, =

B,u

(6b)

Strain energy
The strain energy of the plate may be written as
the sum of membrane
and transverse
shear
energy.

The correction term Aw should be taken in such a

way that rj will be linear with respect to every
direction s.
The condition of the linear transverse shear strain
requires that
*s.7CO
Ys,

aE,=

+
sv

aL;.a,dV+

ac:.a,dV.
s

(7)

for every direction s.

(11)

549

A shear locking free six-node Mindlin plate bending element

Using the kinematic relations of eqn (9b) the

condition to the displacement field is now

The Appendix gives the expression for a,, aYY,aXv.

The refined shear strains in the x- and y-directions
are now given by:

(12a)
where
Aw., = Aw,,, cos a + 3Aw,, cos* a sin a
+ ~Aw,,,,~cos a sin* a + Aw,, sin a
d.,, = &,XXcos a + (2#5,, - 9,,)

(12b)

cos* a sin a

+ (&!YY- 21$,,) cos a sin* a - 4r.yy sin a

in which the correction

respectively,

by,, = Aw,, =

(12c)

(fxya:,

terms Ay, and AyYZare,

+ iy2a:, - a:P,)&

-(~x2a:X+fxya:Y+~y2a;Y+a:P2)~Y

(15b)

for each angle a.

and
To this condition

eqn (12a) is satisfied if:

Ar,, = Aw,, = (ix2aiX + f xya:, +fy2a;,, - a;P,)&
-(ix2a:,+fxya6+a;P2)qbY.

(1%)

The shear strains y$ and y; are now distributed

linearly with respect to x and y.

NUMERICAL INTEGRATION RULES

The solution Aw is now given by:

For both the SHELL6 element and the refined

SHELL6* element the three-point integration rule
has been applied.

Aw = - i (x*a:, + Zxya:, + y*a;J

x (x4,, - y&) - aAw* (14a)
with discrete values
Awi+ = -b(xfa:,

+ 2xiyia~Y+y~a~,,)(xi~Y-yi~X)

(14b)
or

Numerical test
A symmetric quadrant of a uniformly loaded,
simply supported, square plate is idealized by 32
elements for a thin plate of span/thickness ratio
L/t = 50. To compare the quality of the refined
SHELL6* element the same quadrant has been idealized by 16 eight-node plate elements (SHELLS) too.
The exact solution for this class of problems is given
in [9].

L=lOrn
t=0.2m
E=lON/m
x

G.lON/m
VSO

Fig. 2. Correction terms A.w.

Fig. 3. Simply supported square plate under uniformly

distributed load.

550

VERWOERD and

M. H.

-601

A. W. M.

KOK

-+x

[ml

-x

hl

Fig. 4. Moments m?,. and PI,, along line of symmetry y = 0.

601
50 -

30 -

SHELL6*/SHELLB

-60

SHELL6

-60

i
I

----x [ml

2
-x

[ml

Fig. 5. Shear forces qy and q_ along line of symmetry y = 0

RESULTS

The computed displacements of SHELL6 and

SHELL6* are very close to the exact results and are
not shown here. Results of the moments and the
shear forces are shown in Figs 4 and 5.

REFERENCES

1.
2.

3.
CONCLUSIONS

The introduction
of transverse shear strain in
the family of Mindlin element leads to shear
locking problems with decreasing thickness of
triangular and quadrilateral
plate elements. Reduced or selective integration
techniques
can
overcome shear locking for four-node and eightnode elements.
For
triangles,
reduced
integration techniques do not solve the shear locking
problem.
For triangular plate elements shear locking can be
effectively eliminated by the introduction of the correction terms, Aw. These correction terms neutralize
the inhomogeneous
quadratic terms in the shear
strain and successively the shear locking effects, This
new element leads to much more accurate results for
moments and shear forces.

4.

5.
6.

I.
8.
9.

I. Fried, Shear in C? and C bending finite elements. Inr.

J. Solids Struct. 9, 449 (1973).
0. C. Zienkiewicz, R. L. Taylor and J. M. Too,
Reduced integration techniques in general analysis of
plates and shells. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 3,275-290
(1971).
T. J. R. Hughes, M. Cohen and M. Haoun, Reduced
and selective integration techniques in the finite element
analysis of plates. Nucl. Engng Des. 46, 203 (1978).
0. C. Zienkiewicz and E. Hinton, Reduced integration,
function smoothing and non-conformity in finite element analysis (with special reference to thick plates).
J. Franklin Inst. 302, 443461 (1976).
R. D. Mindlin, Influence of rotary inertia and shear on
flexural motions of isotropic plates. J. uppl. Mech. 18,
31-38 (1951).
T. J. R. Hughes and T. E. Tezduyar, Finite elements
based upon Mindlin plate theory with particular reference to the four-node bilinear isoparametric element.
J. appl. Mech ASME 48, 587-596 (1981).
E. Reissner, The effect of transverse shear deformation
on the bending of elastic plates. J. appt. Mech., Trans.
ASME 12, A69-A77 (1945).
C. S. Desai and J. F. Abel, Introduction to the Finite
Element Method. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York
(1972).
S. Timoshenko and S. Woinowky-Kreiger, Theory of
Plates and Shells, 2nd Edn. McGraw-Hill, New York
(1940).

551

A shear locking free six-node Mindlin plate bending element

The functions qxx, qYYand aLxyare the components of

the vectors a,, aYYand axy, respectively,

APPENDIX
The expression of the shape functions a,@, y) in vector a
are
L,(2L, - 1)
a=

L&L, - 1)

L,(ZL,-1)

0
4

4LI L*
4L, L3

4&L,
whereL,=x;L,=y;L,=l-x-y;O<x<l;O<y<l.

a,,

%v

0
0

-8
0

-8

0
0
4
axY=

4
-4
-4