Deflection bounds for plane membranes at moderate rotations (Q1090141)

For plane membranes deformed at small strains and moderate out-of-plane rotations, upper and lower bounds are derived for displacements conjugate to applied loads. Upper bounds are further given for displacements at arbitrary locations in static and dynamic circumstances extending an earlier approach by \textit{J. B. Martin} [J. Mech. Eng. Sci. 10, 213-218 (1968)] to nonlinear kinematics with rigor retained. The material properties considered are elastic, plastic, viscoelastic and viscoplastic. The bounding accuracy is examined by comparison of predicted deflections with those of some earlier and some apparently new exact solutions for particular cases involving contours of circular, annular and rectangular shapes.