Computation of the stress resultants of a floating Mindlin plate in response to linear wave forces

In this paper, we focus on the computation of stress resultants of a floating elastic plate using the Mindlin plate theory. The proposed method makes use of the linear wave theory and shallow-draft assumption. However, the usual Kirchhoff theory is replaced by the Mindlin theory for the plate. For a single frequency, the coupled water-plate problem is solved using a higher-order-coupled finite element–boundary element method. The solutions for the stress-resultants computed using the proposed method are more satisfactory than these based on the Kirchhoff plate theory.