A third‐order triangular multilayered plate finite element with continuous interlaminar stresses

Based on a refined third‐order shear deformation plate theory recently proposed by the author, a three‐node, fully conforming, multilayered anisotropic plate element of arbitrary triangular shape is developed in this paper. The element incorporates 10 nodal d.o.f., namely the two in‐plane displacements, the two shear rotations, the transverse displacement and its first and second derivatives, thus giving a total of 30 d.o.f. The formulation includes extension, bending and transverse shear deformation states; moreover, it fulfils a priori the geometric and stress continuity conditions at the interfaces, and it requires only five generalized displacements to describe the kinematics of the plate deformation. The formulated plate element is assessed for its performance comparing its predictions either with exact solutions from the plate model or with other approximate two‐dimensional solutions.