Problem on the contact of two elastic plates (Q791364)

(From the author's summary.) The problem of the contact between two elastic plates without a priori assumptions on the form of the contact set is considered. The geometry of the problem results in a natural definition of a convex set of allowable displacements. The solution yields the minimum of the functional energy in this set and satisfies a variational inequality. The main result is the proof of the connectedness of the non-contact domain for an appropriate condition on the external load. A condition for no internal points of the contact set is also found. Analogous results hold for the contact between a shallow shell and a plate.