Limit Analysis of Plates

This chapter starts with the establishment of the fundamental equations of plates. Based on those fundamental equations and relevant boundary conditions, the limit analysis of axisymmetric bending of circular plates is conducted, particularly resulting in the limit loads of circular plates with simply supported and clamped boundary conditions. For noncircular plates, the procedure to obtain kinematically admissible solutions is illustrated, which provides the upper bound of related limit loads. When plates undergo large deformation, their load-carrying capacity is also analytically investigated, by using the Calladine method and membrane factor method, respectively. Finally, an example related to stamping of circular plates is presented in the context of large deflection analysis.