Isolated disclination in an orthotropic von Kármán elastic plate

Abstract

We investigate geometry and mechanics of the buckled orthotropic von Kármán elastic plate, with free boundary condition, in the presence of an isolated positive, or negative, disclination. The buckled shape of an isotropic elastic plate is cone-like for a positive disclination and saddle-like for a negative disclination. In either case, with increasing orthotropy, the shape of the buckled plate becomes more tent-like. The Gaussian curvature accordingly spreads along the ridge of the tent. The stress fields too remain focused in the neighbourhood of the defect point and the ridge, indicating that most of the stretching energy is accommodated in these singular regions.