BEM for thick plates on unilateral Winkler springs

A new direct boundary element (BEM) technique is established to analyze plates on tensionless elastic foundation. The soil is modeled as Winkler springs. The considered BEM is based on the formulation of shear deformable plate bending theory according to Reissner. The developed technique is based on coupling a developed plate bending software with iterative process to eliminate tensile stresses underneath the considered plate. Tensile zones are redistributed until the final contact zone of plate is reached. Examples are tested and results are compared to analytical and previously published results to verify the proposed technique. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.