VALUE PROBLEMS OF RECTANGULAR PLATES

The present report presents a theoretical anal_sis of an initially flat, rectangular plate with large deflections under either normal pressure or combined normal pressure and slde thrust. As small deflections of a flat plate are governed by a single linear equation, large deflections introduce nonlinear terms into the conditions of equilibrium and are governed by 2 fourth-order, second-degree, partial T I / differential equations. These so-called Von Kakn_mu equations are studied in the present report by use of the finite-dlfference approxi-mations. The difference equations are solved by b_o methods, namely, the method of successive approximations and the relaxation method. Neither of these methods Is new, but their application to nonlinear problems requires new techniques. The problem of a uniformly loaded square plate with boundary conditions wl_ich approximate the riveted sheet-strlnger panels i