Hi, 

I would like to use Abaqus to analyse the Kirchhoff Thin Plate model. However, It seems like only 3D Shell model can be used. But I found that all the the elemental stiffness matrix for quadrilateral shell elements have dimension of 20*20 or 24*24. Based on Kirchhoff Thin Plate theory, the dimension of Ke of quadrilateral plate element should be only 12*12 and the D matrix should be governed by D = E*t^3/12/(1-v^2). Could somebody please tell me what model type and element type should I choose to analysis the Kirchhoff Thin Plate model? Many thanks!