Contact between a circular plate and a tensionless edge support (Q1119070)

In this paper the extent of contact between a circular plate and its tensionless edge support is studied. The solution is obtained by employing the Ritz method. The displacement function is approximated in terms of the functions which satisfy exactly one of the boundary conditions. The other boundary condition is satisfied approximately by taking the harmonic average. The numerical results showing the effects of the configuration of loading and the stiffness of the support on the extent of the contact and on the edge displacement of the plate are presented in various diagrams. The results which correspond to a very low support stiffness are compared with those of a rigid plate, and very good agreement is found.