An efficient plate finite element and its application to three-dimensional deformations of CANDU fuel endplate rings

A 9-node plate finite element is formulated in this paper to model the three-dimensional deformations of a thick circular ring used as part of an endplate in CANDU nuclear fuel in accordance with Reddy's simplified third-order plate theory. The proposed methodology is superior to both the straight beam model and the curved beam model for modelling the constraint at interfaces between the circular rings and ribs of a CANDU fuel endplate. Test cases conducted show that the proposed method is very efficient and accurate.