Bending of plates

Summary

The bending of plates is the deformation of a thin flat elastic body under loads perpendicular to its surface. In the linear theory of thin plates the deflection solves the biharmonic plate equation with boundary conditions that depend on how the edges are supported. From the deflection one gets the bending moments and hence the stresses, which are largest at the two faces of the plate. Classical closed-form solutions exist for circular and rectangular plates, and finite elements treat general shapes.