Finite difference numerical analysis of plates in aerospace engineering

Júlio Cesar Fiorin¹; Reyolando M. L. R. F. Brasil¹

¹ Federal University of ABC

doi:10.20906/CPS/CILAMCE2017-0071

Resumo

The solution of the most varied types of structural problems, in general, in the aerospace engineering field, requires the use of an adequate numerical methods, as well as the knowledge of their main characteristics and limitations. The present work presents a study on the numerical analysis of rectangular plates by means of the method of the finite differences, using Matlab® software for simulation. We obtain approximate solutions for the field of transversal displacements, as well as the corresponding bending moments. We consider problems involving a series of boundary conditions, specially aerospace engineering applications. Also, in this context, we perform a comparative analysis of the approximations obtained by means of the finite difference method with those with the finite element method, using commercial software AbaqusTM, for same messes. In both cases, comparisons are made with results found in the literature derived from trigonometric series. Partial results point out that the finite differences method approximations were more accurate when compared to the finite element method, for meshes of the same dimension. These results allow us to infer that, for certain problems, the finite difference method can be used with better efficiency, precision and simplicity - from the computational point of view - when compared with the finite element method.

Palavras-chave: plates; finite differences; aerospace structures