A new approach for bending analysis of thin circular plates with large deflection

This paper is concerned with bending analysis of an axisymmetric simply supported circular plate with large deflection. Based on the linear theory of thin plates, the incremental load technique is developed for solving the bending problem of a thin circular plate with large deflection. In the proposed method, the total applied load is divided into various small load steps. In each load step, the plate stress behavior is simplified to be linear. The incremental formulations are presented for the deflection and stresses of the plate when external loads increase. A numerical example is given to show simplicity and accuracy of the present method. It is found that the proposed method can be an alternative useful tool for engineering applications. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.