A Uniformly Accurate Finite Element Method for the Reissner–Mindlin Plate

Abstract

A simple finite element method for the Reissner–Mindlin plate model in the prim-itive variables is presented and analyzed. The method uses nonconforming linear finite elements for the transverse displacement and conforming linear finite elements enriched by bubbles for the rotation, with the computation of the element stiffness matrix modified by the inclusion of a simple elementwise averaging. It is proved that the method converges with optimal order uniformly with respect to thickness.