A Basic Study of the Accuracy Estimation of the Finite Element Method : 1st Report, Analysis of Transverse Bending of Thin Flat Plate

Abstract

As a basic study for the establishment of an accuracy estimation method in the finite element method, this report deals with the problems of transverse bending of thin flat plates. From numerical experiments for uniform mesh divisions, the following relation was deduced; ε^∝(h/a)^k, k≥1, whereεis the error of the value by the finite element method relative to the exact value and h/a is a dimensionless mesh diameter. Combining this relation with the results obtained by error analysis for local mesh refinement, an accuracy estimation method based on the recursive simulation method was presented. A computer program using this accuracy estimation method was developed and applied to nineteen problems of various plate shapes. The usefulness of this accuracy estimation method was illustrated by these application results.