Build. Sci. Vol. 7, pp. 151-158. Pergamon Press 1972.

Printed in Great Britain

Static and Dynamic Behaviour of

Rectangular Plates using Higher Order
Finite Strips
M. S. CHEUNG, M.Sc., Ph.D.*
Y. K. CHEUNG, Ph.D., M.I.C.E., M.I.Struct.E.t
.4 higher order finite strip using basic function series in the longitudinal
direction and a quintic polynomial in the other direction is developed in this
paper and applied to various static and dynamic problems in plates. Excellent
results have been obtained for all cases.
In the finite strip method, the basic function series satisfy the end conditions
in the longitudinal direction of the plate a priori, and a two-dimensional plate
bending problem can thus be reduced to a one-dimensional 'equivalent' beam
problem. As a result, the size as well as the band width of the stiffness matrix has
been greatly reduced, and the whole procedure can be programmed on small
computers. Also little input data is required for such a program.

NOTATIONS
a
b
D.~, D~., Dh D~.
p
~o
[k]
Ira]
w, 0, 7.
Y
~5 ',

Typlcol strip

length of the strip

width of the strip
rigidity constants of orthotropic plate
mass per unit volume
circular frequency of structure
stiffness matrix of strip
mass matrix of strip
deflection, rotation and curvature of the
plate
basic functions
generalized nodal displacement parameters.

dal lines

O
(0) Top view of idealized structure
with any boundary conditions

(b) A typJcal slab sfrip and nodal

pararne f res

Fig. 1.

In the present formulation, apart from the continuity of displacements and rotations at the strip
boundaries, as is for the case of the lower order
strip, we find that the curvatures are also continuous
everywhere. It will be shown that by using this
higher order strip, better results can be obtained for
the same amount of computer effort, or conversely,
the same accuracy for a particular problem can be
arrived at by solving less equations, i.e., by using
a smaller number of strips.

INTRODUCTION
THE STATIC and dynamic analysis of elastic
plates using a finite strip technique was first given
by Cheung [1-3], where a third order polynomial
was employed in conjunction with basic function
series in formulating the stiffness matrix of the
strip. Very good results have been obtained for
plates with different boundary conditions and under
various loadings.
The use of a higher order strip for improved
accuracy was also suggested by Cheung[4], and the
development and application of such a finite strip
(Figure 1) using the suggested fifth order polynomial in the transverse direction and the same
basic functions in the longitudinal direction will be
presented here.

The higher order strip, however, is not directly

amendable for plates with abruptly varying stiffnesses, since at the interface the moments should
be continuous but the curvature discontinuous.
Fortunately, this can be overcome without undue
complexity by eliminating the curvature terms in
the individual stiffness matrices before they are
assembled. This process is similar to the technique
used by Wang[5] in the plastic analysis of beams
and portal frames.
The higher order strip is extremely efficient in
predicting the natural frequencies of rectangular

*Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Civil Engineering,

The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
t Professor of Civil Engineering, The University of Calgary,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
151

M. S. Cheung and Y. K. Chewlg

152

( x3 x't x5 \ Zir]" }",

plates with various boundary conditions. For example, a two-strip, two term solution for a simply
supported plate can yield five frequencies accurately, and requires only 30 sec execution time on
a medium speed IBM 360-50 computer.

= Z [N],{6 }r
= [N]. {6 :

in which {6}, = [wl, Oi,, )~i,, wj, Oj,, Zs,]T are the
generalized nodal displacement parameters, and Y,
are the basic function series. In static problems, Yr
incorporate three cases of end conditions: simplysupported-simply-supported,
simply-supportedclamped, and clamped-clamped. For vibration
problems the following three other cases of end
conditions have been included: simply-supportedfree, clamped-free, and free-free.

THE FINITE STRIP PROCEDURE

The philosophy and formulation of the finite
strip method has been described in detail elsewhere[I-3], and only the essential points shall be
repeated here. We have:
(I) Construct a displacement function which
satisfies automatically the end conditions of a strip.
In this case

r=l .....

----b-r--~ b4

b.~ }

(2) Resolve the load also into basic function

series in the longitudinal direction, i.e.,

wl.

q=

6x38x43xs~
X--'-~'-~ b3 b4 fl Oir,
X -3X3 3X4
- ~ -F 2b 2
10x

15x"

l,3

-~

(1)

q,Y,

r= l,...n

t21

(3) Derive the curvature-displacement matrix by

appropriate differentiation of the displacement
function

X5 )

~,2 W

~"~3 Zi,,
02w
Oy2

IZ } =

6x5~

+ --~-)

[B],{3},

(3)

r = l , . . . rl

w :, ,

632W

2~

= [BI {6 }

4X3 7X4 3X5\

--b-rq

6Ox
b3

b3 ~)

0~,,

in which [B,] =

36x

180X2 120X3"~
b 4 + ' - - ' ~ ) Yr

P-

[
10X3 15X4 6xS]
- [ 1 - - - ~ - -~ b4
~ ] h,z Y7
30x2 60x a
- - - ~ - - 4 b4

60x

180x z

-'-U -~ b"
(10X 3

-\ V

30X4~h,y~
~

{1
2~

b~ +-V-) r,

6x 3 8x*

+7

-l~

18x 2 32x 3 15x4\

b3
-~ ) h r Y r
,

--7-~

84x z 60x3\
~ - - b~ +-U-} r,

b~ / r"

{ 4x 3 7x" 3x__._5"~
hz y7
-\--~-t" b3 b4 j

15X4 6X5~

V + - ~ ) h~'r;'
2[

12x z 28x 3

[-7

15x4"~h,y~

b,/

9x
b

18X 2

10X3"~

b"'5- + - " ~ )

Y"

_0x2 3x3 3x" x ' )

-Sg+2b 2 ~3 h~r;

3x5\ 2 ,

24x

120___x3)

(30X 2 60X3 30X4\

96X 2 60X3~

2 /~X - - -9X
~ -2 + 6x3

5X4~

b~ 5-~/h,r;

3x

12x 2 10_x3~

-'-~+ bz
X

X4

b3 ]
X5

- \ ~ - p + ~ / h ~ r;'
3x

2 \ ~D

4x 3 5x4'~

b2 +~.~)h,Y;
(4)

Static and DynamicBehaviourof RectangularPlatesusingHigherOrderFiniteStrips

(4) Write down the property matrix for orthotropic materials:

[O] =

:1

~ Dr

(5)

0 Dxr

(5) Calculate the stiffness matrix from the wellknown relationship[6]:

[kL = Sg J'g [B]r[D] [B], dx dy

(6)

The above properties should be taken into account

during the assembly process.
(9) Solve the stiffness equations for nodal displacement parameters, which are in turn used for
computing the bending moments.
[K] {6} = {F}

[K]-'[M]{6}

' 10' 1E0' 2' 1"0 '

J'g q' Y' d y

(7)

(7) Calculate the consistent mass matrix[6] for

dynamic analysis

dx de

[m],, = J'8 J'~ Ph[N]T[N],

(8)

The above matrix has been worked out manually

and can be found in Appendix 2.
(8) Since for most of the basic function series the
terms are coupled (except the simply-supported
case), the complete stiffness of one strip with n
terms will have the following form
kll

k12

k21

[k] =

k22

kl.]
k2n

(9)

k.1

kn2

k..

while due to the orthogonal properties of the

function (J'g Y, Ys dy = 0 for r # s), the consistent
load and consistent mass matrices for a strip with
n terms will have a simpler form. We have

(1) A square slab bridge simply-supported at two

ends is analysed for a central concentrated load,
using 4 strips for half the bridge. The results are
compared with those using rectangular finite
elements (4 x 8 mesh) and lower order finite strip
(8 strips). The distribution coeflicients (figure 2)
computed for longitudinal and transverse moments
are practically identical for the three cases.
(2) A square slab with all edges clamped is
analysed for two loading cases--uniformly distributed loads q and central concentrated load P. Such
a problem has been solved previously using the

o~O~o~O

{F,,h
{F,,} =

(lO)
{F~}.

OI

04

02

0.8

0"5

Lower order finite sfrir

and

0"5

[m] =

(ll)

[m].._

"

Higher order finite $tri

1.2

04

[mhz

(13)

Several problems involving plate flexure and

frequency analysis will be presented here. The
static equations are solved by using a narrow band
matrix solution routine while the frequencies are
obtained from the dynamic stiffness matrix through
a power iteration technique[7]. It should be stressed
here that the performance of the higher order strip
is really much more superior to that of the lower
order strip in plate bending and vibration problems,
and that only a small number of equations are used
in all the examples given in this section.

{Fq},

-[mh,

= 1/(o2{5}

NUMERICAL EXAMPLES A N D
DISCUSSIONS

{Fq }, = [.~ [bo [N]r,q, Y, dx dy

[~ bE ba b -b2 bl~]

(12)

(10) Solve the dynamic stiffness equations for

the circular frequencies and the corresponding
modal shapes.

An explicit form of such a stiffness matrix can be

found in Appendix I.
(6) Calculate the consistent load matrix[6] for
static analysis

153

16
L I
~ i
L ~ ~
- 0 - 7 0 - 3 0 - 5 0 -o - 3 0 - O -O
8 4 8
2 8 4 8
Tronsverse rnornenfs

I
0 ~

I
~

|
l
I
q I
3O o .~q ~ Z~
8 2
Longifudinol moments

l
o

Fig. 2. Distribution coefficients for longitudinal and

transverse moments for a unit load at centre o f a square
bridge.

154

34. S. C h e u n g a n d

Y K. C h e u n g

7~tble I(1). Static analysis o] slab with Jour clamped side~

Uniformly distributed load, q

=

0"3

H
m = I
m = 3
m = 5
2.
Exact
Multiplier

M .......

W.,,, ~

M, ......
L

- M., ....
L

0.00131
0.00133
0.02483
0"02554
0'02787
0"02837
- 0.00005 - 0.00007 -- 0.00234 -0"00336 -0"00634 -0"00821
0.00001
0.00001 +0.00063
0'00027
0"00194
0"00348
0.00127
0.00127
0.02312
0"02245
0"02347
0"02364
0.00126
0.00126
0.02310
0"02310
0"02310
0"02310
qa't/ D

'~I.......

-0.05409
+0"00304
--0"00023
-0"05128
--0"05130

-0"05235
+0"00114
--0-00054
-0"05175
-0"05130

-0.03693
--0"00872
-0-00272
--0"04837
-0"05130

--0-03744
-0-01113
--0"00523
-0"05380
-0"05130

qa 2

H = Higher order finite strip

L = Lower order finite strip

Table l(b). Static analysis o f slab with four clamped sides

v = 0.3

Central concentrated load, p

--mx max
H
L

Wm.x
H

m = 1
m = 3
m = 5
m = 7
E
Exact
Multiplier

0-00511
0-00030
0.00011
0-00004
0-00556
0.00560

0"00519
0"00027
0.00012
0.00003
0"00561
0.00560

-0"11850
-0"00881
+ 0.00247
-0'00131
-0.12615
-0-12570

-0'11654
-0-01361
0-00439
-0"00182
-0.12758
-0.12570

pa2/ D

H = Higher order finite strip

-- My m,x
H

--0"14385
0-05281
- 0.04522
0'02810
-0'10816
-0.12570

--0"14591
0.04568
- 0.05152
0"02172
-0-13003
-0.12570

L = Lower order finite strip

Table 2. Circular frequencies o f slabs with various boundary conditions

Simply

Frequencies

0) 1
,)2
o)3
o)4
,~

supported

. . . . . . . .

Higher Lower
Higher Lower
order order Reference order order
F.S.
F.S.
[8]
F.S.
F.S.
19.74
49.35
49.36
78.97
98.94

19.74
49-32
49.34
78.91
98.94

19.74
49.35
49.35
78.95
98.69

23-66 23.62
51.79 51.62
58.66 58.65
86-41 86.16
100.89 100.35

l o w e r o r d e r s t r i p , in w h i c h h a l f t h e p l a t e is d i v i d e d
i n t o 5 e q u a l strips. O n l y t w o e q u a l s t r i p s a r e u s e d
for half the plate in the present analysis, but the
r e s u l t s ( T a b l e 1) h a v e b e e n f o u n d t o b e a c t u a l l y
more accurate.
(3) T h e n a t u r a l f r e q u e n c i e s o f s e v e r a l s q u a r e
isotropic plates with different boundary conditions

Clamped

--

--

Free

Higher Lower
Higher Lower
Reference order order Reference order order
[8]
F.S.
F.S.
[8]
F.S.
F.S.
23.77
52.00
58.65
86.26
100.84

36-05 36.01
73.44 73.48
73.75 73.96
108'53 108.91
133-53 132.09

36-00
73-4l
73.41
108-24
131.90

22.33
27.19
45.19
61.55
68,33

22.29
27.08
44.76
61.53
68.29

Reference
[81
22.38
27.33
45.49
61.68
68.73

have been obtained by the higher order strips using

t w o t e r m s o f t h e series a n d t w o s t r i p s f o r t h e w h o l e
p l a t e . T h e r e s u l t s a r e c o m p a r e d w i t h t h o s e d u e to
W a r b u r t o n [ 8 ] , a n d r e f e r e n c e 2, in w h i c h 4 t e r m s o f
t h e series a n d e i g h t l o w e r o r d e r s t r i p s a r e u s e d in
t h e a n a l y s i s . V e r y little d i f f e r e n c e c a n b e f o u n d
b e t w e e n t h e t h r e e sets o f r e s u l t s ( T a b l e 2).

155

Static and Dynamic Behaviour of Rectangular Plates using Higher Order Finite Strips

14) Finally, a 4 span continuous plate with 3

sides simply-supported and the fourth side clamped
is used to demonstrate the superiority of the higher
order strip. An analysis is carried out using only
4 strips, i.e., one strip per span, and the results are
found to be essentially the same as those obtained
from reference 2, in which 12 lower order strips are
used (figure 3).
From the above examples and other problems
attempted it can be concluded that the improvement in accuracy when compared with the lower
order strips is much more marked for dynamic
problems than for static problems. Furthermore,
the reduction in the total number of equations in
static analysis is offset somewhat by the increase in
band widths whereas in vibration analysis the
computer time is dependent only on the total
number of equations.
Acknowledgement--The financial assistance given by the
National Research Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged.

I
I

I
I

I
I

D-I

I
I
l

I
I
I

I
I
I

ph-I

_1_
-r-

_
I-

k J_
-J-

v-O

_1
-I

_1_
-P-

(O) 4 Spans continuous plate

Circulor
frequencies

`01 = 2 0 " 0 2
`0z = 2 2 " 0 8

121

,03=49"53
`04 =50.76

(b) Lower order finite strip divisions end frequencies

Circulor

`0~ = 2 0 - 0 2

`03= 4 9 - 8 3

frequencies

`02 = 2 2 . 0 6

`04=50"72

(c) Higher order f i n i t e s t r i p divisions and frequencies

Fig. 3.

REFERENCES
1. Y. K. CHEUNG, Finite Strip Method Analysis of Elastic Slabs, Prec. ASCE, Eng. Mech.
Div., pp. 1365-1378 December (1968),
2. Y. K. CHEUNGand M. S. CHEUNG,Flexural Vibrations of Rectangular and Other Polygonal
Plates, Prec. ASCE, Eng. Mech. Div., pp. 391-411, April (1971).
3. Y. K. CHEtrSG, Folded Plate Structures by Finite Strip Method, Prec. ASCE, Structural
Div., pp. 2963-2979, December (1969).
4. Y. K. CHEUNG,Orthotropic Bridge by the Finite Strip Method. Paper presented at the
2nd lnt. Sym. on Concrete Bridge Design, Chicago, March (1969).
5. C. K. WANG, Matrix Methods of Structiral Analysis. International Textbook Company
(1966).
6. O. C. ZmNKmWiCZ and Y. K. CHEtrNG, Finite Element Methods in Structural and Continuum Mechanics. McGraw-Hill, New York (1967).
7. R. G. ANDERSON,A Finite Element Eigenvalue Solution System. Ph.D. Thesis, University
of Wales, Swansea, December 1968.
8. G. B. WARBURTON,The Vibration of Rectangular Plates. Prec. Inst. Mech. Engrs. 168,
371-384 (1954).

Une bande d6finie d'ordre 6levi utilisant des s~ries de fonctions de base dans le sens
longitudinal et un polynome quintique darts rautre sens est d~velopp~ dans cet
expose, puis appliqu~ ~t divers probl~mes de plaques statiques et dynamiques.
D'excellents r~sultats ont &~ obtenus dans tousles cas.
Dans la mgthode de bande d~finie, la s~rie de fonction de base satisfait les conditions terminales dans le sens longitudinal de la plaque ~ priori, et un probl~me de
flexion de plaque bi-dimensionel peut ainsi ~tre r~duit ~ un probl~me de poutre
"~quivalent" uni-dimensionel. Ceci a pour effet que la grandeur aussi bien que la
largeur de bande de la matrice de rigidit~ en ont 6t6 consid~rablement r6duites, et la
proc6dure enti6re peut ~tre programm& sur de petits ordinateurs. De plus, tr~s
peu de donn6es d'entr6e sent n6cessaires pour un tel programme.

156

M.S. Cheung and Y. K. Cheun,4

Es wird in diesem Bericht ein endlicher Streifen hSheren Grades unter Anwendung elementarer Funktionsreihen in der L~ingsrichtung und eines Polynoms ffinften Grades
in der anderen Richtung entwickelt und ffir verschiedene statische und dynamische
Plattenprobleme angewandt. Es wurden ausgezeichnete Ergebnisse in allen
Ffillen erhalten.
Die elementaren Funktionsreihen in der endlichen Streifenmethode erffillen a
priori die Endbedingungen in der L~ingrichtung, und ein zweidimensionales Plattenbiegungsproblem kann somit auf ein eindimensionales, "Aquivalent" Triigerproblem
reduziert werden. Demzufolge ist die Gr6sse wie die Bandweite der Steifheitsmatrix
bedeutend reduziert worden, und das ganze Verfahren kann mit kleinen Computern
programmiert werden. Auch sind wenig Eingabedaten ffir ein solches Programm
erforderlich.

APPENDIX

I--STIFFNESS

MATRIX

[k]r~ = I~[~],~dv

[;],.,

h r --

y: -

Ilk],, [~],~]
r7~

S/'C

h~ = -a-

1 dY~
h~ dy

r;: -

1 d2y,.
h2~ dy 2

1 dY s
1 d2y,.
Y~ = h"]" d--7" Y;'= h.Z~,dy2

2_9

[~],,

b -3 DxY,.Y,
Z
y..y~.
h. D 1

7
lO

b--1

lO

b-I

- h-

h s2 D I Y ~ Y ( '
-hZh
- r ' - s -2
- yD
- r Y" Y~'

7
--462
-1"-183

+4o

b -~ hrh~D~,,Y:Y/

+~o
3
14

t' -~ DxY,.Y,
2
h,.D1Y:'Y~

14
+ 4~210

b2

+6

2 2 DrY;# r~,,
h,h,
hrh,, D,,y Y: Y~

_ 37

b t DxY, y,

+8~

h~ D , Y[ Y~

+ -sJ~
281
55440
_ _12,

b
b3
b

h Z~D ~ Y, Y"
2 2
# Y~.
h,h~DyY:
hrh, Dxv Y: Y;

60
7

b-2 DxY~y~

17

'~

14
- ; ~3
+ 36~-6 b 2
+6

hrDt Y~ Y~

+1_392

b-'

_ 83 5

_ 3s5

S2
+ ~-gg

b3

- ~ 33~25

11
35
+~
b~
+6~
b~
23
b4
18480
1
b2
15

2
h~D~
Y,Y~"
hZh2D
r"y~'
"'r "'s --y hrh~Dx r y: y;
r

37
+-8~
+8~ ~
- ~2 8

h '1
b
h
b3

--' 2 1 1 _

I')

D~Y,Y~
IlZ,DI 117 Y,
h~Dt Yr r;'
h,.2 h~2 Dy Y:n Y[
hrh s O~y Y[ Y/

- ~3 5
+ ~1i~
+6'0

be
b:

-~2~

b4

D:,Y,Y~
h~,D,y;L
h~O, r , v ;
2 2
#
h.h~DyY:
Y~,'~
h,h~D:,r y: y~

+2~

15

I
630

b2

D~,YrY~
hZ~Dl Y;' Y~
h~z D l y~ y[,
h,.2 hsz D r Y~,, y~'
h.h~D~y Y: Y(

OxYrY,

b3

hZDt Y~' r~

hs2 DI y , y-,
..
hr2hs2 Dr Yr. . Y,
hrh~ D,,~, Y" Y~

b3

+~4~

b5

+ 31 ~

b 3

630

D~Y~Y,
hZ~D,Y[ y,
hZ~D~Y~Y('
2 2
"
h,h~DyY~,
y."
h,h~ Dxr Y" Y(

'
,"
i

-~-J-

+-~ll

"

~,~. ~.~

~ ~t~

I -t-

I ~

I-t-+l

II

I -I-

+-I-

bo

~ ~ ~l- ~I~"

I ++

I I I

~I"

I I + + I

I~

I +

. ~ l ~ I ~ ~.~ -

-I-+

I 1 + + +

I -I-

I +

I +

I ++-I-

II

~I~I

-l- -I- I

+ I l l +
~i~

I +

I + + + I
~ ~
I~

~I~I

-I--I-I

++

I -I-

I -I-

~I

I~

I -l--I- +

I +-I-+

~I~

I + + +

II

-I- I

-I- I

I +-I-+
r~I-~-

I +

I -I-

I
I-

Ad. S. Chrung and Y. K. Clzcung

APPENDIX

II-CONSISTENT

MASS MATRIX