Nonlinear Analysis of Large Deflections of Isotropic Rectangular Clamped Plate using Hybrid Method

Abstract

This paper analyses the large deflections of an isotropic rectangular clamped thin plate. A hybrid method which combines the finite difference method and the differential transformation method is employed to reduce the partial differential equations describing the large deflections of the plate to a set of algebraic equations. The simulation results indicate that significant errors are present in the numerical results obtained for the deflections of the plate in the transient state when a step force is applied. The magnitude of the numerical error is found to reduce, and the deflection of the plate to converge, as the number of sub-domains considered in the solution procedure increases. The load-deflection curves converge as the aspect ratio of the plate is reduced. The current modeling results confirm the applicability of the proposed hybrid method to the solution of the large deflections of a rectangular isotropic clamped plate.