Large-Deflection Mathematical Analysis of Rectangular Plates

Abstract

A large-deflection mathematical analysis of rectangular plates under uniform lateral loading is presented in this paper. The analysis is based on solving two fourth-order, second-degree, partial differential Von Kármán equations relating the lateral deflections to the applied load. This paper provides a mathematical procedure which benefits from the software and hardware computing capabilities that were unavailable when mathematical modeling was last attempted. The solution is presented in a simple form suitable for direct practical use and can be easily implemented in common spreadsheet packages. Plates with two boundary conditions, namely, simply supported edges and held edges, are considered. Comparisons are held against earlier exact and approximate solutions, including results of finite element analyses. The results show close agreement with other exact analysis methods. The solution is able to produce the same results as other exact solutions, but with a much simpler and a more practical approach.