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KirchhoffLoveplatetheoryWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

KirchhoffLoveplatetheory
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheKirchhoffLovetheoryofplatesisatwodimensionalmathematicalmodelthatisusedtodeterminethe
stressesanddeformationsinthinplatessubjectedtoforcesandmoments.ThistheoryisanextensionofEuler
Bernoullibeamtheoryandwasdevelopedin1888byLove[1]usingassumptionsproposedbyKirchhoff.The
theoryassumesthatamidsurfaceplanecanbeusedtorepresentathreedimensionalplateintwodimensional
form.
Thefollowingkinematicassumptionsthataremadeinthistheory:[2]
straightlinesnormaltothemidsurfaceremainstraightafterdeformation
straightlinesnormaltothemidsurfaceremainnormaltothemidsurfaceafterdeformation
thethicknessoftheplatedoesnotchangeduringadeformation.

Contents
Deformationofathinplatehighlighting
thedisplacement,themidsurface(red)and
thenormaltothemidsurface(blue)

1Assumeddisplacementfield
2QuasistaticKirchhoffLoveplates
2.1Straindisplacementrelations
2.2Equilibriumequations
2.3Boundaryconditions
2.4Constitutiverelations
2.5Smallstrainsandmoderaterotations
3IsotropicquasistaticKirchhoffLoveplates
3.1Purebending
3.2Bendingundertransverseload
3.3Cylindricalbending
4DynamicsofKirchhoffLoveplates
4.1Governingequations
4.2Isotropicplates
5References
6Seealso

Assumeddisplacementfield
Letthepositionvectorofapointintheundeformedplatebe .Then

Thevectors formaCartesianbasiswithoriginonthemidsurfaceoftheplate,
undeformedplate,and isthecoordinateforthethicknessdirection.
Letthedisplacementofapointintheplatebe

and

aretheCartesiancoordinatesonthemidsurfaceofthe

.Then

Thisdisplacementcanbedecomposedintoavectorsumofthemidsurfacedisplacementandanoutofplanedisplacement
writetheinplanedisplacementofthemidsurfaceas

inthe

direction.Wecan

Notethattheindex takesthevalues1and2butnot3.
ThentheKirchhoffhypothesisimpliesthat

If

aretheanglesofrotationofthenormaltothemidsurface,thenintheKirchhoffLovetheory

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Notethatwecanthinkoftheexpressionfor

asthefirstorderTaylorseriesexpansionofthedisplacementaroundthemidsurface.

Displacementofthemidsurface(left)andofanormal(right)

QuasistaticKirchhoffLoveplates
TheoriginaltheorydevelopedbyLovewasvalidforinfinitesimalstrainsandrotations.ThetheorywasextendedbyvonKrmntosituationswhere
moderaterotationscouldbeexpected.

Straindisplacementrelations
Forthesituationwherethestrainsintheplateareinfinitesimalandtherotationsofthemidsurfacenormalsarelessthan10thestraindisplacementrelations
are

Usingthekinematicassumptionswehave

Thereforetheonlynonzerostrainsareintheinplanedirections.

Equilibriumequations
Theequilibriumequationsfortheplatecanbederivedfromtheprincipleofvirtualwork.Forathinplateunderaquasistatictransverseload
equationsare

wherethethicknessoftheplateis

these

.Inindexnotation,

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where

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arethestresses.

Bendingmomentsandnormalstresses

Torquesandshearstresses

Derivationofequilibriumequationsforsmallrotations
Forthesituationwherethestrainsandrotationsoftheplatearesmallthevirtualinternalenergyisgivenby

wherethethicknessoftheplateis

andthestressresultantsandstressmomentresultantsaredefinedas

Integrationbypartsleadsto

Thesymmetryofthestresstensorimpliesthat

.Hence,

Anotherintegrationbypartsgives

Forthecasewheretherearenoprescribedexternalforces,theprincipleofvirtualworkimpliesthat
equationsfortheplatearethengivenby

Iftheplateisloadedbyanexternaldistributedload
theexternalvirtualworkduetotheloadis

.Theequilibrium

thatisnormaltothemidsurfaceanddirectedinthepositive

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direction,

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Theprincipleofvirtualworkthenleadstotheequilibriumequations

Boundaryconditions
Theboundaryconditionsthatareneededtosolvetheequilibriumequationsofplatetheorycanbeobtainedfromtheboundarytermsintheprincipleofvirtual
work.Intheabsenceofexternalforcesontheboundary,theboundaryconditionsare

Notethatthequantity

isaneffectiveshearforce.

Constitutiverelations
ThestressstrainrelationsforalinearelasticKirchhoffplatearegivenby

Since
and
donotappearintheequilibriumequationsitisimplicitlyassumedthatthesequantitiesdonothaveanyeffectonthemomentumbalance
andareneglected.Theremainingstressstrainrelations,inmatrixform,canbewrittenas

Then,

and

Theextensionalstiffnessesarethequantities

Thebendingstiffnesses(alsocalledflexuralrigidity)arethequantities

TheKirchhoffLoveconstitutiveassumptionsleadtozeroshearforces.Asaresult,theequilibriumequationsfortheplatehavetobeusedtodeterminethe
shearforcesinthinKirchhoffLoveplates.Forisotropicplates,theseequationsleadto

Alternatively,theseshearforcescanbeexpressedas

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where

Smallstrainsandmoderaterotations
Iftherotationsofthenormalstothemidsurfaceareintherangeof10 to15 ,thestraindisplacementrelationscanbeapproximatedas

ThenthekinematicassumptionsofKirchhoffLovetheoryleadtotheclassicalplatetheorywithvonKrmnstrains

Thistheoryisnonlinearbecauseofthequadratictermsinthestraindisplacementrelations.
IfthestraindisplacementrelationstakethevonKarmanform,theequilibriumequationscanbeexpressedas

IsotropicquasistaticKirchhoffLoveplates
Foranisotropicandhomogeneousplate,thestressstrainrelationsare

Themomentscorrespondingtothesestressesare

Inexpandedform,

where
thatthestressesandmomentsarerelatedby

Atthetopoftheplatewhere

forplatesofthickness

.Usingthestressstrainrelationsfortheplates,wecanshow

,thestressesare

Purebending
Foranisotropicandhomogeneousplateunderpurebending,thegoverningequationsreduceto
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Herewehaveassumedthattheinplanedisplacementsdonotvarywith

and

.Inindexnotation,

andindirectnotation

Thebendingmomentsaregivenby

Derivationofequilibriumequationsforpurebending
Foranisotropic,homogeneousplateunderpurebendingthegoverningequationsare

andthestressstrainrelationsare

Then,

and

Differentiationgives

and

Pluggingintothegoverningequationsleadsto

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Sincetheorderofdifferentiationisirrelevantwehave

,and

.Hence

Indirecttensornotation,thegoverningequationoftheplateis

wherewehaveassumedthatthedisplacements

areconstant.

Bendingundertransverseload
Ifadistributedtransverseload

isappliedtotheplate,thegoverningequationis

.Followingtheprocedureshownintheprevious

sectionweget[3]

InrectangularCartesiancoordinates,thegoverningequationis

andincylindricalcoordinatesittakestheform

Solutionsofthisequationforvariousgeometriesandboundaryconditionscanbefoundinthearticleonbendingofplates.
Derivationofequilibriumequationsfortransverseloading
Foratransverselyloadedplatewithoutaxialdeformations,thegoverningequationhas
theform

where isadistributedtransverseload(perunitarea).Substitutionoftheexpressionsfor
thederivativesof
intothegoverningequationgives

Notingthatthebendingstiffnessisthequantity

wecanwritethegoverningequationintheform

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Incylindricalcoordinates

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Forsymmetricallyloadedcircularplates,

,andwehave

Cylindricalbending
Undercertainloadingconditionsaflatplatecanbebentintotheshapeofthesurfaceofacylinder.Thistypeofbendingiscalledcylindricalbendingand
representsthespecialsituationwhere
.Inthatcase

and

andthegoverningequationsbecome[3]

DynamicsofKirchhoffLoveplates
Thedynamictheoryofthinplatesdeterminesthepropagationofwavesintheplates,andthestudyofstandingwavesandvibrationmodes.

Governingequations
ThegoverningequationsforthedynamicsofaKirchhoffLoveplateare

where,foraplatewithdensity

and

DerivationofequationsgoverningthedynamicsofKirchhoffLoveplates
Thetotalkineticenergyoftheplateisgivenby

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Thereforethevariationinkineticenergyis

Weusethefollowingnotationintherestofthissection.

Then

ForaKirchhofLoveplate

Hence,

Define,forconstant throughthethicknessoftheplate,

Then

Integratingbyparts,

Thevariations

and

arezeroat

and

.Hence,afterswitchingthesequenceofintegration,wehave

Integrationbypartsoverthemidsurfacegives

Again,sincethevariationsarezeroatthebeginningandtheendofthetimeintervalunderconsideration,wehave

Forthedynamiccase,thevariationintheinternalenergyisgivenby

Integrationbypartsandinvokingzerovariationattheboundaryofthemidsurfacegives
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Ifthereisanexternaldistributedforce

actingnormaltothesurfaceoftheplate,thevirtualexternalworkdoneis

Fromtheprincipleofvirtualwork

.Hencethegoverningbalanceequationsfortheplateare

Solutionsoftheseequationsforsomespecialcasescanbefoundinthearticleonvibrationsofplates.Thefiguresbelowshowsomevibrationalmodesofa
circularplate.

modek=0,p=1

modek=0,p=2

modek=1,p=2

Isotropicplates
Thegoverningequationssimplifyconsiderablyforisotropicandhomogeneousplatesforwhichtheinplanedeformationscanbeneglected.Inthatcasewe
areleftwithoneequationofthefollowingform(inrectangularCartesiancoordinates):

where

isthebendingstiffnessoftheplate.Forauniformplateofthickness

Indirectnotation

Forfreevibrations,thegoverningequationbecomes

DerivationofdynamicgoverningequationsforisotropicKirchhoffLoveplates
Foranisotropicandhomogeneousplate,thestressstrainrelationsare

where

aretheinplanestrains.ThestraindisplacementrelationsforKirchhoffLoveplatesare

Therefore,theresultantmomentscorrespondingtothesestressesare

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Thegoverningequationforanisotropicandhomogeneousplateofuniformthickness
ofinplanedisplacementsis

intheabsence

Differentiationoftheexpressionsforthemomentresultantsgivesus

Pluggingintothegoverningequationsleadsto

Sincetheorderofdifferentiationisirrelevantwehave

.Hence

Iftheflexuralstiffnessoftheplateisdefinedas

wehave

Forsmalldeformations,weoftenneglectthespatialderivativesofthetransverseaccelerationoftheplate
andweareleftwith

Then,indirecttensornotation,thegoverningequationoftheplateis

References
1. A.E.H.Love,Onthesmallfreevibrationsanddeformationsofelasticshells,Philosophicaltrans.oftheRoyalSociety(London),1888,Vol.srieA,N17p.491
549.
2. Reddy,J.N.,2007,Theoryandanalysisofelasticplatesandshells,CRCPress,TaylorandFrancis.
3. Timoshenko,S.andWoinowskyKrieger,S.,(1959),Theoryofplatesandshells,McGrawHillNewYork.

Seealso
Bending
Bendingofplates
Infinitesimalstraintheory
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Linearelasticity
Platetheory
Stress(mechanics)
Stressresultants
Vibrationofplates
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