Two hybrid elements for analysis of thick, thin and sandwich plates

Two general quadrilateral elements for plate bending are developed. Each has 12 degrees of freedom and accounts for transverse shear deformation effects. Each is built from four triangular elements whose properties are derived by the assumed‐stress hybrid approach. Matrices needed to generate the stiffness properties of the triangular elements are explicitly stated so as to facilitate their use. Numerical test cases, in which shear deformation effects range from negligible to very important, are used to illustrate the behaviour of the elements. It is concluded that the simpler of the two quadrilaterals is one of the best plate elements currently available.