International Journal of Solids and Structures 43 (2006) 1854–1855

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijsolstr

Discussion

Comment on ‘‘Stress boundary conditions

for plate bending’’ by F.Y.M. Wan
[Int. J. Solids Struct. 40 (2003) 4107–4123]
a,* b
Yang Gao , Min-Zhong Wang
a
College of Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, PR China
b
Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China

Available online 25 August 2005

Abstract

By using the reciprocal theorem of elasticity, the author obtained the appropriate stress boundary conditions for the
Levy solution for plate bending accurate to all order for plates of general edge geometry and loading. Two special cases
of k = 0 (axisymmetric deformation of a circular plate) and k P 2 (unsymmetric deformation of a circular plate) were
discussed in detail in the paper.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Boundary conditions; Plate bending; Reciprocal theorem

However, for the first case, the author indicated, ‘‘However, they determine only the Fourier coefficient b0
but not the rigid body transverse displacement component a0. Such a level of nonuniqueness is expected when
all edge data are prescribed in terms of stresses.’’ (p. 4115, lines 20–22). To determine the Fourier coefficient
0
a0, the second singular axisymmetric biharmonic function w0 (r) = r2 ln r in Eqs. (21) in Wan (2003) should
be used. For this singular biharmonic function, the relevant displacement and stress components of the
Levy solution are

 

z 2 2m 2 4
Ur ¼  ð1  mÞð2r ln r þ rÞ þ h  z ;
1m 6 r
ð1Þ


2 2m 2
U h ¼ 0; U z ¼ r ln r þ z ðln r þ 1Þ;
1m

*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gao-pku@sohu.com (Y. Gao).

0020-7683/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2005.07.003
 Y. Gao, M.-Z. Wang / International Journal of Solids and Structures 43 (2006) 1854–1855 1855

 

Ez 2 2m 2 4
Rrr ¼  2 ln r þ 3 þ mð2 ln r þ 1Þ  h  z ;
1  m2 6 r2
ð2Þ
2E 1
R
rh ¼ 0; R
rz ¼  ðh2  z2 Þ .
1  m2 r
For the general non-singular axisymmetric biharmonic function w0 = a0 + b0r2 in Eqs. (22) in Wan (2003),
the relevant displacement and stress components of the Levy interior solution are


2m 2
uIr ¼ 2b0 rz; uIh ¼ 0; uIz ¼ a0 þ b0 r2 þ z ; ð3Þ
1m
2E
rIrr ¼  b0 z; rIrh ¼ rIrz ¼ 0. ð4Þ
1m
Substituting expressions of displacement and stress Eqs. (1)–(4) into the reciprocal relation, one yields the
following relation involved both a0 and b0:
ZZ  
4ð4 þ mÞ
rrr U Sr þ r
ð rh U Sh þ r
rz U Sz Þ
¼k0 c dS ¼ 8pD a0 þ b0 h2 . ð5Þ
E 5ð1  mÞ
Being similar to the derivation in Section 6, according to Eq. (5) and Eq. (29) in Wan (2003), the rigid body
transverse displacement component a0 and the Fourier coefficient b0 can be obtained. Hence, when the edge
is subject to a prescribed set of admissible tractions, such a level of uniqueness is expected.