modelling dummy members for deck plate?

[steve101]

Modelling deck plate. There's a way to do this, but I can't remember:

Say 1m c/c x 2m, and 6mm thick, I can take an effective width of plate and model it as a truss element across the diagonals, bd3/12 for an effective Ivalue, and give it zero density?

I'm sure that modelling the full plate and applying end releases gives it unconservative stiffness? Hence the dummy member method.

Can anyone shed any light?

 

[mhola]

See Yetram & Hussein. Their formulation are what we have been using all this while.