Formulation of a three-node traveling triangular plate element subjected to gyroscopic and in-plane forces

When a plate travels at a high speed, gyroscopic and in-plane forces affect the dynamic behavior of the plate. The formulation of a traveling triangular plate element subjected to in-plane forces and gyroscopic forces is presented in this paper. This moving element is developed by modifying a discrete Kirchhoff theory element. The element matrices are derived and expressed explicitly. To verify the formulation and the program, five cases of an axially traveling rectangular plate subjected to distributed in-plane forces are studied. The results show that this moving triangular plate element (moving discrete Kirchhoff theory) provides an alternate technique for modeling an axially traveling plate subjected to in-plane forces.