Exact deflection expressions for a thin solid circular plate loaded by periphery couples

A mechanical analysis is carried out for a thin, solid, circular plate, deflected by a series of periphery-concentrated couples with a radial or circumferential axis. Although such couples need not be of equal intensity or angularly equispaced, they must constitute a self-equilibrated system of couples. This problem is decomposed into a combination of two basic models, the first of which considers a single periphery couple with a radial axis, and the second addresses an edge couple with a circumferential axis. In both models the concentrated border couple is equilibrated by a sinusoidal boundary line load of proper intensity, whose wavelength equals the plate edge. When such basic configurations are combined, respecting the condition that the system of concentrated couples be self-equilibrated, the effects of the sinusoidal loads cancel out, and the title problem is recovered. A classical series solution in terms of purely flexural plate deflections is achieved for the two basic models, where the series coefficients are computed with the aid of an algebraic manipulator. For both models, the series is summed in analytical form over the whole plate region. Closed-form deflection formulae can thus be easily derived from the two basic models for any combination of self-equilibrated edge couples, where some selected relevant situations are developed in detail