8

Chapter 1

and the length of such elements is not altered. This means that the vertical shear strains xz and yz are negligible and the normal strain "z may also be omitted. This assumption is referred to as the hypothesis of straight normals. 5. The stress normal to the middle plane, z , is small compared with the other stress components and may be neglected in the stressstrain relations. 6. Since the displacements of a plate are small, it is assumed that the middle surface remains unstrained after bending. Many of these assumptions, known as Kirchhoffs hypotheses, are analogous to those associated with the simple bending theory of beams. These assumptions result in the reduction of a three-dimensional plate problem to a two-dimensional one. Consequently, the governing plate equation can be derived in a concise and straightforward manner. The plate bending theory based on the above assumptions is referred to as the classical or Kirchhoffs plate theory. Unless otherwise stated, the validity of the Kirchhoff plate theory is assumed throughout this book. 1.4 SURVEY OF ELASTICITY THEORY

The classical theories of plates and shells are an important application of the theory of elasticity, which deals with relationships of forces, displacements, stresses, and strains in an elastic body. When a solid body is subjected to external forces, it deforms, producing internal strains and stresses. The deformation depends on the geometrical conguration of the body, on applied loading, and on the mechanical properties of its material. In the theory of elasticity we restrict our attention to linear elastic materials; i.e., the relationships between stress and strain are linear, and the deformations and stresses disappear when the external forces are removed. The classical theory of elasticity assumes the material is homogeneous and isotropic, i.e., its mechanical properties are the same in all directions and at all points. The present section contains only a brief survey of the elasticity theory that will be useful for the development of the plate theory. All equations and relations will be given without derivation. The reader who desires to review details is urged to refer to any book on elasticity theory for example [5355]. 1.4.1 Stress at a point: stress tensor

Consider an elastic body of any general shape subjected to external loads which are in equilibrium. Then, consider a material point anywhere in the interior of the body. If we assign a Cartesian coordinate frame with axes x, y, and z, as shown in Fig. 1.5, it is convenient to assign an innitesimal element in the form of parallelepiped (dx; dy; dz), with faces parallel to the coordinate planes. Stresses acting on the faces of this element describe the intensity of the internal forces at a point on a particular face. These stresses can be broken down into a normal component (normal stress) and tangent component (shear stress) to the particular face. As a result, the three stress components, denoted by xx ; xy ; xz ; . . . ; will act on each face of the element. The subscript notation for the stress components is interpreted as follows: the rst subscript indicates the direction of an outer normal to the face on which the stress component acts; the second subscript relates to the direction of the stress itself.