Navier’s Solution for Simply

Supported Rectangular Plates

1. Consider the rectangular plate of sides a and b, simply supported on all edges and subjected to a
distributed load p(x, y).

2. The origin of coordinates is placed at the upper left corner of the plate as shown in Figure (a)

(a) Location of coordinate system for Navier’s method

1.In general, solution of the bending problem employs the following Fourier series for load and deflection; where
pmn and amn represent coefficients to be determined.

…………..(1)

………….(2)

2. The deflection must satisfy the differential Equation (3) with the following boundary
conditions(4);

………….(3)

………….(4)
1. These boundary conditions(4) are fulfilled by Equation (2), and the coefficients amn must be such as to satisfy
Equation (3). The solution corresponding to loading p(x, y) thus requires determination of pmn and amn.

2. The coefficients amn of the series are the maximum central coordinates of the sine curves, and the m’s and
the n’s indicate the number of half-sine curves in the x and y directions, respectively

3. For example, the term a12 sin (πx/a) sin (2πy/b) of the series is illustrated in Figure (b) below.

Fig(b) : Deflection of the simply supported plate into half-sine curves of m = 1 and n = 2.
1.We proceed by dealing first with a general load configuration, subsequently treating specific loadings. To determine
the Fourier coefficients pmn, each side of Equation (1) is multiplied by

…………….(5)

and integrated between limits 0, a and 0, b:

……………(6)
It can be shown by direct integration that;

………………….(7)

The coefficients of the double Fourier expansion are therefore;

………………(8)
Evaluation of amn in Equation (2) requires substitution of Equation (1&2) into Equation (3), with the result;

……………..(9)

This equation must apply for all x and y. We conclude therefore that

………….(10)

from which we get;

……….(11)
1.Substituting Equation (11) into Equation (2), we find the equation of the deflection surface of the plate becomes

…………….(12)

2.In which pmn is given by Equation (8). It can be shown, by noting that | sin(mπx/a) |≤1 and | cos(nπy/b)|≤ 1 for
every x and y and for m and n, that the series (Equation (12)) is convergent.

Thus, Equation (12) is a valid solution for bending for simply supported rectangular plates under various kinds of
loadings.
Simply Supported Rectangular Plates under
Various Loadings
• When a rectangular plate is subjected to a uniformly distributed load p(x, y) = p0, the results of the previous
section are simplified considerably. Now Equation (8), after integration, yields

…………(13)

Which gives,

………..(14)
Introducing pmn into Equation (12), we have

............(15)

The maximum deflection occurs at the center of the plate (x = a/2, y = b/2) and its value, from
Equation (15) is,

………….(16)

………….(*)
By introducing Equation (15) into Equations (*), the components of the moment are derived:

…………………(17)
http://madhuvable.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/AMOM-Chapter-5-Slides.pdf
1. If point load P is applied at the centre of plate what is the value of p (distributed load
per unit length)?
2. Why is Qr = -P/(2 p r) and not + P/(2 p r)?
3. What is the integral of x (ln x).
4. Derive the relation for w for the fixed plated loaded at centre?
5. The expression for w contains r (ln r) term. Show that at r = 0 the term is
indeterminate. Using L’Hospital rule show that this term goes to 0 as r approaches 0.
6. Find the ratio of displacement w at the centre for fixed and simply supported
boundary conditions for a plate loaded at centre. Use n = 1/3.
7. Using Matlab, plot the variation of w, sr and sq for a circular plate of radius r = 20
mm, thickness t = 2 mm, E = 200 GPa, n = 1/3, P = 100 N. Do it for both fixed and
simply supported boundary conditions. As stresses go to infinity at r =0, calculate the
stresses from r = 0.01 to r =20 mm. For w, put r2 ln r = 0 at centre (Matlab will not
calculate using L’Hospital rule).
8. In slide 42, Mr(1) and Mr(1) are made equal at r =b . Why Mq are not equated at r =b.
9. Why in equation ‘e’ on slide 42 Q equated to zero. Show this by drawing the free
body diagram of plate for r ‘slightly’ smaller than b.
• Write a matlab code to find deflection of a simply supported plate
using Navier’s method
Example 5.2
• A rectangular warehouse floor slab of sides a and b is simply
supported on all edges.
• Determine the reactions at the supports if the material is stored on
the entire floor in such a way that the loading is expressed in the
following approximate form:

• Here p0 represents the

intensity of the load at the center of the plate.
• Point load and Dirac-Delta function (Example 5.3b): Approach used in
book is slightly different
D’ Alambert’s principle
• The derivation of the governing differential equation of motion of
plates is, in most cases, a simple extension of the static case by
adding effective forces to the plate that result from accelerations of
the mass of the plate. These are the inertia forces. For the most part,
we take advantage of D’Alambert’s principle to add the inertia forces
as reversed effective forces.
Free Vibration
Free Vibration
Noting that a normal mode of vibration is one in which all elemental masses of
the plate execute simple harmonic motion with the same frequency, the
corresponding solution is sought as

Where W is a function of the space coordinates (x,y) which satisfies the boundary condition.

Solutions for W other than the trivial solution W = 0, are possible only for specific discrete
values of frequency of these eigenvalues are the desired natural frequencies of the plate
and eigenfunctions W are the associated mode shapes.