Patch based stress recovery for plate structures

In this paper we address the application of recovery procedures in advanced problems in structural mechanics. The attention is focused on the recovery by compatibility in patches procedure (RCP) and shear deformable plate structures. The formulation of RCP procedure is extended to shear deformable plate problems (Reissner–Mindlin theory) and is applied to recover stresses from mixed and hybrid stress finite elements. These elements offer new possibilities, for recovery procedures in general, which deserve to be discussed. A comprehensive investigation on which finite element solution can be used as input for the recovery procedures is given through standard benchmark problems, obtained for several values of the thickness on structured and unstructured meshes. The numerical results confirm the effectiveness of the recovery procedure extended to plates problems.