Circular Plates (symmetrical bending)

If the load is symmetrical about the axis of the plate, the deflection surface to which the middle
plane of the plate will be bent will also be symmetrical. In all points equally distant from the
center of the plate, the deflections will be the same, and it is hence sufficient to consider
deflections in one diametral section through the axis of symmetry.

Stresses

Consider a portion of a thin plate (Figure 3.5) bent to a radius RXY in the XY plane and RYZ in
the YZ plane.

Figure 3.5:

The relationship between stresses and strains in a three-dimensional strain system is given as

1
𝜀 = 𝜎 − 𝑣𝜎 − 𝑣𝜎
𝐸
1
𝜀 = 𝜎 − 𝑣𝜎 − 𝑣𝜎
𝐸
For thin plates, provided the deflections are restricted to no greater than half the plate thickness,
the direct stress in the Y direction may be assumed to be zero and so

𝐸
𝜎 = (𝜀 + 𝑣𝜀 ) … … 3.1
(1 − 𝑣 )

𝐸
𝜎 = (𝜀 + 𝑣𝜀 ) … … 3.2
(1 − 𝑣 )

These stresses are proportional to the distance from the neutral surface and depend on the
magnitude of the curvatures of the bent plate.

If u is the distance of any fiber from the neutral axis, for pure bending in the XY and YZ planes,

𝑀 𝜎 𝐸 𝜎 𝑢
= = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 = = 𝜀
𝐼 𝑦 𝑅 𝐸 𝑅

1
Therefore, the strains at fibers at a distance u from the neutral surface are found as
𝑢 𝑢
𝜀 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜀 =
𝑅 𝑅

Now = and, for small deflections, = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝜃(𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠)

1 𝑑 𝑦 𝑑𝜃
= =
𝑅 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝜃
𝜀 =𝑢 (= 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 ) … … 3.3
𝑑𝑥
Considering figure 3.6, circumferential strain at D2,

2𝜋(𝑥 + 𝜇𝜃) − 2𝜋𝑥

𝜀 =
2𝜋𝑥
Where,

𝑢𝜃
𝜀 = (= 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛) … . … 3.4
𝑥

Figure 3.6:

Substituting equations 3.3 and 3.4 in equations 3.1 and 3.2 yields

𝐸 𝑑𝜃 𝑢𝜃
𝜎 = 𝑢 +𝑣
(1 − 𝑣 ) 𝑑𝑥 𝑥

i.e.

2
 𝐸𝑢 𝑑𝜃 𝜃
𝜎 = + 𝑣 … … 3.5
(1 − 𝑣 ) 𝑑𝑥 𝑥

𝐸𝑢 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
𝜎 = +𝑣 … … 3.6
(1 − 𝑣 ) 𝑥 𝑑𝑥

Thus we have equations for stresses in terms of the slope θ and the rate of change of slope
dθ/dx.

Bending moments

The problem of pure bending of beams has a rigorous solution based on plane-section
hypothesis, which states that plane sections remain plane and normal before and after bending.
The combination of such bending in two perpendicular directions results to pure bending of
plates. Consider the small section of plate shown in figure 3.7, which is of unit length. Defining
the moments per unit length and applying the simple bending theory,

𝜎𝐼 𝜎 1 ∗ 𝑡 𝜎𝑡
𝑀= = =
𝑦 𝑢 12 12𝑢

Figure 3.7

Substituting in equation 3.5 and 3.6

𝐸𝑡 𝑑𝜃 𝜃
𝑀 = + 𝑣 … … 3.7
12(1 − 𝑣 ) 𝑑𝑥 𝑥

( )
= 𝐷 is a constant and termed the flexural stiffness

So that

𝑑𝜃 𝜃
𝑀 =𝐷 + 𝑣 … … 3.8
𝑑𝑥 𝑥

and 𝑀 =𝐷 +𝑣 … … 3.9

The stress equation can then be written in terms of applied moments as

12𝑢
𝜎 =𝑀 … … 3.10
𝑡

3
 12𝑢
𝜎 =𝑀 … … 3.11
𝑡
General equation for slope and deflection

If the load is symmetrical about the axis of the plate, the deflection surface to which the middle
plane of the plate will be bent will also be symmetrical. In all points equally distant from the
center of the plate, the deflections will be the same and it is hence sufficient to consider
deflections in one diametral section through the axis of symmetry. Consider figure 3.7 which
shows the forces and moments per unit length acting on a small element of the plate subtending
an angle δϕ at the center. Thus Mxy and Myz are the moments per unit length in the two planes
and Q is the shearing force per unit length in the direction OY.

Figure 3.7: small element of circular plate showing applied moments and forces per unit length

For equilibrium of moments in the radial XY plane, taking moments about the outside edge,

1
(𝑀 + 𝛿𝑀 )(𝑥 + 𝛿𝑥)𝛿∅ − 𝑀 𝑥𝛿∅ − 2𝑀 𝛿𝑥𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛿∅ + 𝑄𝑥𝛿∅𝛿𝑥 = 0
2
Which, neglecting squares of small quantities, reduces to

𝑀 𝛿𝑥 + 𝛿𝑀 𝑥 − 𝑀 𝛿𝑥 + 𝑄𝑥𝛿𝑥 = 0

In the limit, therefore,

𝑑𝑀
𝑀 +𝑥 −𝑀 = −𝑄𝑥
𝑑𝑥
Substituting equations 3.8 and 3.9 and simplifying

𝑑 𝜃 1 𝑑𝜃 𝜃 𝑄
+ − =−
𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝐷

4
This may be re-written in the form

𝑑 1 𝑑(𝑥𝜃) 𝑄
= − … … 3.12
𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝐷

This is the general equation for slopes and deflections of circular plates or diaphragms.
Provided that the applied loading Q is known as a function of x the expression can be treated
in a similar manner to the equation

𝑑 𝑦
𝑀 = 𝐸𝐼
𝑑𝑥