Reinforcement of a Mindlin–Timoshenko plate by a thin layer

Abstract

We consider a problem of reinforcement of a Mindlin–Timoshenko plate with a thin stiffener of thickness \({\delta }\), on a portion of its boundary. We investigate the case where the mass density, the rigidity and the shear modulus of the material constituting the stiffener vary as \({\delta ^{-a}}\), where \({a\in \mathbb{R_{+}^{\ast }}}\). We perform an asymptotic analysis of the solution as \({\delta }\) goes to zero. We shall show that different limit behaviors occur when a vary in \({\mathbb{R_{+}^{\ast }}}\). The situation where the stiffener is of variable thickness is also investigated. It is also shown how the Kirchhoff–Love model, with Ventcel boundary conditions, is obtained, when the shear modulus approaches +\({\infty}\) (when it behaves as specific power of \({\delta}\)) in both the plate and the stiffener.