In this paper\ a new numerical technique\ the di}erential quadrature element method "DQEM#\ has been developed for static analysis of the two!dimensional polar ReissnerÐMindlin plate in the polar coordinate system by integrating the domain decomposition method "DDM# with the di}erential quadrature method "DQM#[ The detailed formulations for the sectorial DQEM plate bending element and the compatibility conditions between each element are presented[ The convergence properties and the accuracy of the DQEM for bending of thick polar plates are investigated through a number of numerical computations[ Conse! quently\ the DQEM has been successfully applied to analyze several annular sector plates with discontinuous loading and boundary conditions and cutouts to illustrate the simplicity and ~exibility of this method for solving ReissnerÐMindlin plates in polar coordinate system which are not solvable directly using the di}erential quadrature method[ The numerical results are veri_ed by the existing exact solutions or the FEM solutions obtained using the software package ANSYS "Version 4[2#[ Þ 0888 Elsevier Science Ltd[ All rights reserved