Reduced-order strategy for meshless solution of plate bending problems with the generalized finite difference method

Abstract This paper presents some recent advances on the numerical solution of the classical Germain-Lagrange equation for plate bending of thin elastic plates. A meshless strategy using the Generalized Finite Difference Method (GFDM) is proposed upon substitution of the original fourth-order differential equation by a system composed of two second-order partial differential equations. Mixed boundary conditions, variable nodal density and curved contours are some of the explored aspects. Simulations using very dense clouds and parallel processing scheme for efficient neighbor selection are also presented. Numerical experiments are performed for arbitrary plates and compared with analytical and Finite Element Method solutions. Finally, an overview of the procedure is presented, including a discussion of some future development.