Static and dynamic stability of thin plates using finite strip method

Abstract

The Finite Strip Method is presented in the thesis for the analysis of two dimensional structures under both static and dynamical loading conditions. The Finite Strip Method can be considered as a special form of the finite element using the displacement (stiffness) approach. The philosophy of the finite strip method is similar to that of the Kantorovich method which is used to reduce a partial differential equation to an ordinary differential equation. The method when applied to most structural problems, yields a narrow banded, small size stiffness and mass matrices, which require a relatively small computational effort. Therefore, this method reduces the analyses of those complex structures to simple, efficient size matrix operations. In this thesis, a general finite strip theory of structural analysis is presented and the derivation of the stiffness and mass matrices is discussed. General computer programs for a finite strip system are developed to analyze thin plates, folded plate structures and box girders for static and dynamic loading. The theoretical solutions of this method for different structures are compared with other exact and numerical solutions , and in all cases, good agreement in results is observed.