ABSTRACT
Very often, in practice, configuration of a system or structure is such that its approximate simulation may require the use of or it may be beneficial to use more than one type of idealization. For instance, if we need to idealize a three-dimensional building frame and its foundation, it is convenient and economical to treat the building frame as composed of one-dimensional beams and columns and two-dimensional slabs and plates. Many other situations in stress-deformation analyses and field problems require such multicomponent idealizations. This chapter illustrates the problem of a building frame. It considers an orthogonal frame with only horizontal and vertical members. The chapter shows essentially the treatment of a multicomponent system for a building frame in which plates or slabs occur as one of the main components. It suggests that the finite element procedure for plate bending is essentially similar to the other problems considered. The chapter describes the salient features of the problem.
