A novel approach to thick plate theory suggested by studies in foundation theory (Q1062521)

A new approach to the statics of thick, elastic plates is presented. This approach to thick plate theory incorporates transverse normal stress and strain effects as well as those due to transverse shear deformation. The unusual boundary value problem resulting from the kinematic assumptions of this approach is obtained as a consequence of the principle of stationary potential energy. This boundary value problem is nonlinear so that the principle of superposition does not hold and it does not appear to be one which may be treated by standard methods. Therefore an iterative method of approximation is proposed. This iterative method is applied, analytically, to a problem of cylindrical plate bending for which an exact solution is known within the linear theory of elasticity. It is shown that for this particular problem the approximation method converges in two iterations to the exact elasticity solution. Since such simple results are not to be expected in general, there is some discussion of the need to develop a numerical algorithm to implement the proposed iterative method of approximation for arbitrary plate problems. Furthermore, certain theoretical difficulties with the new approach to thick plate theory are discussed.