MITC technique extended to variable kinematic multilayered plate elements

This paper considers the Mixed Interpolation of Tensorial Components (MITC) technique, which was originally proposed for Reissner-Mindlin type plates to develop shear locking free refined multilayered plate elements. Refined elements are obtained by referring to variable kinematic modelling in the framework of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF): linear, parabolic, cubic and fourth-order displacement fields in the thickness direction of the plate are used; both equivalent single layer (the multilayered plate is considered as an equivalent one-layer plate) and layer-wise (each layer is considered as an independent plate) variable descriptions are accounted for. Four-node elements are considered and a number of applications are developed for isotropic and multilayered anisotropic plates. Results related to the mixed interpolation of tensorial components are compared to the reduced and selective integration technique in the static and dynamic linear analysis. The numerical results show that the MITC technique maintains its effectiveness in the case of variable kinematic plate elements, hence the obtained elements are free from shear locking mechanisms. The capability of MITC to reduce/remove spurious modes is confirmed for refined multilayered elements. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.