On the range of applicability of the Reissner-Mindlin and Kirchhoff-Love plate bending models

Abstract

We show that the Reissner-Mindlin plate bending model has a wider range of applicability than the Kirchhoff-Love model for the approximation of clamped linearly elastic plates. Under the assumption that the body force density is constant in the transverse direction, the Reissner-Mindlin model solution converges to the three-dimensional linear elasticity solution in the relative energy norm for the full range of surface loads. However, for loads with a significant transverse shear effect, the Kirchhoff-Love model fails.