Transverse stress profiles reconstruction for finite element analysis of laminated plates

The present work focuses on a posteriori, equilibrium based, reconstruction of transverse stress profiles in the finite element analysis of FSDT laminated plates. The accuracy of this reconstruction depends on accuracy of the first and second-order derivatives of the plate stress resultants, which is not guaranteed by most available low-order plate finite elements. To cure this trouble, two different strategies, based on the Recovery by Compatibility in Patches procedure, are here proposed and compared. Numerical results of typical reconstructed transverse stress profiles are presented showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach.