Int, d, Mech. Sci. Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 67% 692, 1989 0020-7403/89 S3.00+.

00
Printed in Great Britain. © 1989 Pergamon Press plc

RECTANGULAR MINDLIN PLATES ON ELASTIC

FOUNDATIONS

HARUTOSHI KOBAYASHI a n d KEIICHIRO SONODA

Department of Civil Engineering, Osaka City University, Osaka 558, Japan

(Received 27 May 1988; and in revised form 30 May 1989)

Abstract--Rectangular plates on Winkler foundations are analysed on the basis of Mindlin's thick
plate theory. The plates are simply supported on the two opposite edges and the other two edges may
be arbitrarily restrained, e.g. simply supported, clamped or free. Solutions are presented in the Levy-
type single series forms, of which forms must be distinguished into three different forms depending
upon the properties of plate materials and the modulus of foundation. The effects of shear
deformation are first showed numerically for the deflections and stress resultants at major points of
the plate. Furthermore, the twisting moment and shear force distributions along the edges and centre
lines of the plate are illustrated graphically to demonstrate the principal difference between Mindlin's
plate theory and classical thin plate theory.

NOTATION
Am,B,.,..., Fm constants of integration
a, b, h
length, width and thickness of plate
D=Eh3/[12(1-v2)] plate flexural rigidity
E, G, v Young's modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio
K=(ka4/D) t/4 dimensionless foundation modulus
k elastic foundation modulus
I (D/k) TM
Mx, Mr, Mxy moment resultants
m integer
Qx, Q~, shear resultants
q(x,y) surface load
q,., w.,, 4O,. Fourier coefficients
R=2Mxr corner reaction of thin plate
s (kD)tlZ/DcGh
W,.(y), ~,.(y), W,.(y) homogeneous solutions
w transverse deflection
wn(x, y), wp(x, y) homogeneous and particular solutions for w
x,y rectangular coordinates
~z,., tim, - • •, r/,. parameters
x=5/6 shear correction factor
lain mrt/a
4on(x, y), 4op(x, y) homogeneous and particular solutions for 4O
4o (oq,xlOx)+(a~,./Oy)
(o¢~/ax)-(o~ j & )
~ , ~br rotations of the normal
V2 Laplace operator in rectangular coordinates

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N
A m o n g t h e v a r i o u s t h i c k p l a t e t h e o r i e s a v a i l a b l e at p r e s e n t , t h e m o s t w i d e l y u s e d t h i c k p l a t e
theories are those of Reissner [1] and Mindlin [2]. But both the theories are not so much
different. If the effect of transverse normal stress is neglected in Reissner's plate theory and
the shear correction factor is taken equal to 5/6 in Mindlin's plate theory, both the theories
coincide with each other. Some analytical and numerical studies for the rectangular thick
plates on an elastic foundation have been reported on the basis of Reissner's plate theory.
Frederick [3] showed that both Navier- and Levy-type series solutions could be used for the
analysis. Voyiadjis and Baluch [4] formulated a successive approximate technique repre-
sented in term of the deflection alone and solved a simply supported rectangular plate.
679
680 HARUTOSHIKOBAYASHIand KEIICHIROSONODA

Ariman [5] derived the governing equations for an orthotropic plate and analysed an
infinite strip with two opposite sides simply supported. Numerical study using FEM based
on thick triangular plate elements was developed by Svec 1,6]. On the other hand, the
authors I-7, 8] presented the double series solutions by means of eigenfunction expansions
for Mindlin plates having two opposite edges simply supported. A numerical solution
method which is applicable to Mindlin plates with any boundary condition and of variable
thickness has been proposed by Matsuda and Sakiyama [9].
In all the investigations described above, the attention has been focused mainly upon the
effect of shear deformation on the deflection and stress resultants, and also the range of
applicability of thin plate theory. Since thick plate theories, however, require the satis-
faction of three boundary conditions along each plate edge rather than the two required for
thin plate theory, it is of interest to show that a principal difference between the results
predicted with thin and thick plate theories arise in the twisting moment and shear force
distributions along and near the edges.
In the present study, the bending response of rectangular Mindlin plates on Winkler
foundation is analysed. Main attention is paid to the twisting moment and shear force
distributions along the edges and centre lines of the plate. The plates are simply supported
on the two opposite edges and the other two edges may be arbitrarily restrained, e.g. simply
supported, clamped or free. Although the double series solutions for the current plate
bending problems have been presented by the authors as mentioned earlier, the Levy-type
single series solutions are derived for the convenience of numerical computations and also
for the sake of further researches. To this end, the original coupled governing equations are
first separated into two uncoupled partial differential equations with respect_to the
deflection and stress function, respectively, one of which is of fourth order and the other of
second order. Then, the Levy-type single series solutions may be obtained directly from these
sixth-order uncoupled differential equations under consideration of the prescribed bounda-
ry conditions.
2. BASIC E Q U A T I O N S

The equilibrium equations of Mindlin plate on Winkler foundation are given in terms of
displacement components as follows I-7, 8]:

&b Ow
2 [ ( 1 - v, V2 ~k,+ (1 +v)-~y]+XGh(--~y-~kj,)=O (lb)

xGh(V2w- gp)+ q- kw = 0, (lc)

where
~= -~ a y ' (2)

and w(x, y) is the transverse deflection; ~x(x, y) and qy(x, y) are the rotations of the normal
about x- and y-axes, respectively; D is the plate flexural rigidity; E, G and v are Young's
modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio, respectively; h is the plate thickness; x(= 5/6) is
the shear correction factor; k is the elastic foundation modulus; q(x, y) is the surface load
intensity; and V 2 is the Laplace operator in rectangular coordinates.
Moment and shear resultants are expressed as

Mxy=-- 2 D + (3c)
 Rectangular Mindlin plates on elastic foundations 681

and
Qx= xGh (~xx - ¢:,) (4a)

Qy=xGh(~yy -qly). (4b)

Using Marguerre and Woernle's formulation [10] for the plates without the presence of a
foundation, coupled equations (1) can be transformed into the following three uncoupled
equations:
kD 2w
DV2V2W -- - ~ - ~ V
D
"q- k w = q-- x - ~ V
2q (5)

1
dp= V2w + ~G~(q - kw) (6)

2 xGh
V2~ 1 - v D ~k=0, (7)

where
0~ O¢x
= Ox Oy " (8)
At the same time, two rotations ~ and ~byare expressed in the following functional forms:
Ow . D ["O~b l - v Od/I
~b~=~x-x+x---~~xx 2 ~y / (9a)

_ Ow D fOdp 1-vO~O)
(9b)
2
Mindlin's plate equations are sixth-order differential equations and, therefore, three
boundary conditions must be specified along each plate edge. For a simply supported edge
in addition to the classical boundary conditions one of two further conditions must be
enforced, i.e. (1) the angular rotation = 0 or (2) the twisting moment = 0. Thus, for example on
an edge, x = constant, the boundary conditions are described as follows:
(1) Simply supported edge (S): w=M~=~ky=0, (10)
(S'): w=M:=Mxr=O. (11)
(2) Clamped edge (c): w=q,x=¢,=0. (12)
(3) Free edge (F): Qx=M~,=Mxy=O. (13)
Similar conditions may also be specified for an edge of y = constant. The designations, S, S',
C and F, above will be used later for the sake of brevity.

3. A N A L Y S I S

The plate considered herein has S-simple support conditions (10) along the two edges
x = 0 and x = a and the other two edges y = + b/2 are subjected to a variety of boundary
conditions given in equations (10) to (13) as shown in Fig. 1.
The applied surface load is assumed to be independent of y and may be expressed in
Fourier series form:

q(x,y)=q(x)= ~ qmsin/.tmx, (14)

m=l

where/a m= mn/a and Fourier coefficient qm is given by

2
qm-- a I ° q(x)sin/~,.x dx. (15)
30
682 HARUTOSHI KOBAYASHI a n d KEIICHIRO SONODA

or,trory !1T b/2

l_

FIG. 1. Coordinate system.

In general, the solution of equation (5) involves the combination of a particular solution
wp and a homogeneous solution wh which are obtained from
2 2 kD 2 D 2
DV V w p - - ~ V wp+kwp=q---~V q (16)

2 2 kD 2
DV V w h - - - ~ V wh+kWh=O. (17)

Therefore, equation (6) yields two solutions, ~p and ~h, which correspond to wp and wh,
respectively. On the other hand, equation (7) for ~, has only homogeneous solution.
For the assumed surface load distributions, the particular solutions, wp and t~p, which
satisfy the S-simple support condition on the two edges x = 0 and x = a, may be taken in the
form

Wp(X)= ~ w~ sin #mx (18)

m=l

~p(x) = ~ q~msin #rex. (19)

m=l

The coefficient w~ is determined from equation (16) to be

2 D

Substituting equations (18) and (19) into equation (6) together with the expression (20) leads
to
qmP~
~. = . (21)

D#4m+ k (1 + #~-~--~)

The S-type simply supported condition along the two edges x = 0 and x = a may be
satisfied by the following

Wh(X, y)= ~ Wm(y)sin#mx (22)

m=l

~h(x, Y)= ~ ~m(y)sin#mX (23)

m=l

~bh(x,y)= ~ ~Fm(y)cos#mx. (24)

m=l

If equation (22) is substituted into equation (17), the following differential equation is
 Rectangular Mindlin plates on elastic foundations 683

obtained for Win(y):

_d'Wm
__(2g2 + k "~d2Wm [ 4 k 2 k'~
w.:o. (25)
dy 4
Assuming
Wm(y)=exp(ry) (26)
the characteristic equation of the solution of equation (25) is obtained as

,
4 / 2 k \2 {4 k 2 k\ (27)

The roots of this equation are

1 2
rl,2,3,4 = +_Trrl,.+s-I-(s2-- 1)1/2"]1/2, (28)

where
/D\I/2 (kD)I/2 (29)
qm=la,.l, l=t-k ) , s= 2xGh "

Therefore, the solution of differential equation (25) obviously depends on the conditions of
the cases: s < 1, s = 1 and s > 1. For each case of s, four roots expressed by equation (28) are
reduced to two pairs of conjugate complex roots, two double real roots and four real roots,
respectively. Hence the solution can be written as follows:
Case 1, s < l :
Win(y) = Amcosh 0troyCOSflmY+ B~ cosh ~tmysin fl,.y
+ Cmsinh amyCOS~my+ Dmsinh amy sin flmY, (30)
where
ctm = ~ 1 [(1 + 2Sq2 + r/g) 112_+(s + r/2)] 1/2.
(~-~m) (31)

Case 2, s = 1:
Win(y) = Am cosh y,. y + Bm),mycosh )'mY+ Cm sinh ),my+ Dm),mysinh),my, (32)
where
I 2 112
),m=7(1 +r/.) . (33)

Case 3, s > 1:
Win(y) = At. cosh 5my +Bm sinh dimy+ Cmcosh e~y + Dr. sinh e,.y, (34)
where

( ~ ) = ~ I-s + r/2 + (s2-- 1)t/2l 1/2 (35)

In the foregoing expressions for Win(y), A,. to Dm are the constants of integration to be
determined from the boundary conditions along the two edges y = + b/2.
Next, substituting equations (22) and (23) into equation (6) together with q = 0, we have
d2Wra(y) ( 2 k )
~,.(y)= dY2 #,,+-~--~ W,.(y). (36)

In view of the form of W,.(y) given in equations (30), (32) and (34), the explicit form of ~,.(y)
is readily obtained for each case of s from the above relation.
684 HARUTOSHI KOBAYASHI and KEIICHIRO SONODA

On the other hand, substituting equation (24) into equation (7) and solving the resulting
ordinary differential equation of second order, the expression for q~=(y) is determined as
follows:
qJ,,,(y)= Emcosh (,,,y + Fmsinh (mY, (37)
where E,, and F= are the constants of integration and
( 2 xGh ) 1/2. (38)
C"= /z2-~1--v

4. N U M E R I C A L R E S U L T S

We shall now consider only the practically important case of 0 ~<s < 1, in which the
limiting case s = 0 corresponds to the result from the thin plate theory. Numerical results are
presented for the uniformly loaded square plates (a/b = 1) for the various values of thickness-
to-span ratio h/a and dimensionless foundation modulus K [K =(ka4/D)~/*]. For all these
cases Poisson's ratio of 0.3 has been taken. Tables 1 to 4 show the deflections and stress
resultants at major points of the plates for different edge conditions at y = -t-a/2. The values
for the case ofh/a = 0 are obtained from the thin plate theory. In these tables, for example, the
symbolism SC denotes a rectangular plate with the edges y=b/2 and y = - b / 2 having
simply supported (S-type) and clamped boundaries, respectively. From the consideration of
symmetrical bending with respect to the axis x = a/2, only odd numbers (m = 1, 3, 5 . . . . ) are
taken. Although the rate of convergence of the series for the deflections and moment and
shear resultants is different for the edge condition, thickness-to-span ratio and dimensionless
foundation modulus, the following points may be suggested to obtain the values having

TABLE 1. DEFLECTIONS, MOMENTS AND SHEARS OF UNIFORMLY LOADED SQUARE SS-

PLATES ON ELASTIC FOUNDATIONS (v = 0.3)

w• Mxb Myb Mx~,b Q:, QyC Rb

x=a/2, x=a/2, x=a/2, x=0, x=0, x=a/2, x=O,
h/a y=0 y=0 y=0 y=a/2 y=0 y = a / 2 y=a/2

(1) K = 1
0 4.052 4.775 4.775 3.241 0.337 -0.337 6.482
0.01 4.054 4.775 4.775 3.241 0.337 -0.337
0.02 4.060 4.775 4.775 3.241 0.337 -0.337
0,05 4.104 4.775 4.775 3.241 0.337 -0.337
0.10 4.261 4.774 4.774 3.240 0.337 --0.337
0.15 4.522 4.773 4.773 3.240 0.337 --0.337
0.20 4.888 4.772 4.772 3.239 0.337 -0.337
(2) K = 3
0 3.347 3.875 3.875 2.751 0.293 --0.293 5.502
0.01 3.349 3.875 3.875 2.751 0.293 -0.293
0.02 3.353 3.874 3.874 2.751 0.293 - 0.293
0.05 3.381 3.865 3.865 2.746 0.292 --0.292
0.10 3.483 3.834 3.834 2.728 0.291 -0.291
0.15 3.648 3.784 3.784 2.699 0.288 -0.288
0.20 3.873 3.716 3.716 2.660 0.284 -0.284
(3) K = 5
0 1.506 1.541 1.541 1.463 0.176 --0.176 2.926
0.01 1.506 1.540 1.540 1.462 0.176 -0.176
0.02 1.507 1.538 1.538 1.461 0.176 --0.176
0.05 1.509 1.526 1.526 1.452 0.175 -0.175
0.10 1.519 1.482 1.482 1.421 0.172 -0.172
0.15 1.534 1.414 1.414 1.373 0.168 -0.168
0.20 1.55I 1.328 1.328 1.311 0.162 --0.162

• lO-aqa4/D; b lO-2qa2; ~ qa.

 Rectangular Mindlin plates on elastic foundations 685

TABLE 2. DEFLECTIONS, MOMENTS AND SHEARSOF UNIFORMLY LOADED

SQUARE S'S'-PLATESON ELASTICFOUNDATIONS(v = 0.3)

w" Mxb Myb Qx¢ QxO QyC

x = a/2, x = a/2, x = a/2, x = O, x = O, x = a/2,
h/a y=0 y=0 y=0 y=0 y=a/2 y=a/2

(1) K = 1
0.01 4.071 4.794 4.787 0.338 - 10.3 -0.419
0.02 4.095 4.813 4.799 0.338 -5.21 -0.418
0.05 4.193 4.871 4.837 0.341 -2.12 -0.417
0.10 4.442 4.967 4.904 0.345 - 1.07 -0.413
0.15 4.797 5.056 4.977 0.345 -0.711 -0.408
0.20 5.252 5.131 5.057 0.352 -0.526 -0.403
(2) K = 3
0.01 3.360 3.887 3.882 0.293 -8.77 -0.360
0.02 3.376 3.898 3.887 0.294 -4.41 -0.359
0.05 3.443 3.927 3.899 0.295 - 1.78 -0.356
O.lO 3.603 3.957 3.906 0.296 -0.891 -0.350
0.15 3.825 3.961 3.899 0.295 -0.584 -0.342
0.20 4.098 3.935 3.878 0.294 --0.424 -0.333
(3) K = 5
0.01 1.508 1.542 1.539 0.176 -4.66 -0.204
0.02 1.51I 1.541 1.537 0.176 --2.34 --0.203
0.05 1.521 1.533 1.522 0.176 -0.934 -0.201
0.10 1.541 1.497 1.477 0.173 --0.452 -0.195
0.15 1.563 1.437 1.413 0.169 --0.284 -0.187
0.20 1.586 1.357 1.337 0.163 -0.197 --0.177

, l O - 3 q a 4 / D ; b lO-2qa2;C qa.

TABLE 3. DEFLECTIONS.MOMENTSAND ~IEARS OF UNIFORMLYLOADEDSQUARECC-

PLATESON ELASTICFOUNDATIONS(v = 0.3)

w~ Mxb M~.b Myb Mxyb Q:C Q~

x=a/2, x=a/2, x=a/2, x = a/2, x=O, x=O, x=a/2,
h/a 3, = 0 y=0 y =0 y = a/2 y = a/2 y=0 y = a/2

(1) K = 1
0 1.915 2.435 3.320 -6.976 0 0.244 --0.516
0.01 1.918 2.437 3.320 --6.974 0.101 0.244 -0.515
0.02 1~927 2.441 3.320 --6.969 0.198 0.244 -0.513
0.05 1.989 2.472 3.321 -6.931 0.466 0.245 -0.509
O.lO 2.206 2.575 3.321 -6.789 0.850 0.245 -0.500
0.15 2.551 2.728 3.315 -6.553 1.169 0.251 -0.488
0.20 3.015 2.915 3.298 -6.257 1.433 0.256 -0.474
(2) K = 3
0 1.742 2.184 2.990 - 6.425 0 0.229 - 0.482
0.01 1.744 2.184 2.989 -6.422 0.095 0.229 -0.480
0.02 1.752 2.187 2.988 -6.414 0.187 0.230 -0.479
0.05 1.802 2.207 2.978 -6.359 0.437 0.230 -0.474
0.10 1.976 2.272 2.941 --6.156 0.787 0.231 -0.462
0.15 2.245 2.362 2.878 -5.832 1.064 0.231 -0.445
0.20 2.590 2.463 2.790 -5.426 1.278 0.231 -0.425
(3) K = 5
0 1.068 1.212 1.711 --4.270 0 0.172 -0.348
0.01 1.069 1.212 1.709 -4.266 0.073 0.172 -0.347
0.02 1.072 1,211 1.705 -4.253 0.143 0.172 -0.346
0.05 1.088 1.204 1.673 --4.163 0.326 0.171 -0.340
0.10 1.141 1.181 1.569 -3.860 0.556 0.167 -0.322
0.15 1.212 1.145 1.421 -3.420 0.705 0.161 -0.297
0.20 1.289 1.098 t.252 --2.921 0.788 0.154 -0.269

• lO-3qa4/D; b 10-2qa2; c qa.

686 HARUTOSHI KOBAYASHIand I(EIICHIRO SONODA

TABLE 4. DEFLECTIONS, MOMENTS AND SHEARS OF UNIFORMLY LOADED SQUARE FF-PLATES ON

ELASTIC FOUNDATIONS (V= 0.3)

w' w" Mxb M~~ My b Q C QxC Rb

x = a/2, x = a/2, x = a/2, x = a/2, x = a/2, x = 0, x = 0, x = 0,
h/a y = 0 y = a/2 y = 0 y = a/2 y = 0 y = 0 y = a/2 y = a/2

(1) K = 1
0 12.95 14.85 12.12 12.96 2.679 0.465 0.401 -4.759
0.01 12.96 14.88 12.12 12.93 2.667 0.464 8.03
0.02 12.97 14.91 12.12 12.89 2.654 0.464 4.27
0.05 13.05 15.05 12.11 12.79 2.613 0.463 2.01
0.10 13.31 15.43 12.11 12.62 2.536 0.461 1.25
0.15 13.75 15.98 12.12 12.44 2.447 0.459 0.994
0.20 14.37 16.69 12.14 12.27 2.345 0.457 0.865
(2) K = 3
0 6.988 7.955 6.399 6.776 1.456 0.296 0.251 -2.612
0.01 6.988 7.966 6.395 6.757 1.449 0.296 4.44
0.02 6.990 7.978 6.390 6.735 1.442 0.296 2.38
0.05 7.007 8.023 6.367 6.661 1.418 0.294 1.13
0.10 7.075 8.131 6.300 6.505 1.366 0.291 0.712
0.15 7.188 8.273 6.201 6.314 1.301 0.287 0.566
0.20 7.343 8.446 6.074 6.092 1.224 0.282 0.488
(3) K = 5
0 1.680 1.851 1.321 1.322 0.341 0.143 0.116 --0.728
0.01 1.680 1.852 1.320 1.320 0.340 0.143 1.29
0.02 1.680 1.852 1.319 1.317 0.339 0.142 0.716
0.05 1.678 1.854 1.311 1.303 0.335 0.142 0.369
0.10 1.676 1.853 1.286 1.270 0.322 0.140 0.249
0.15 1.674 1.849 1.249 1.224 0.305 0.137 0.206
0.20 1.671 1.840 1.200 1.169 0.283 0.134 0.105

• lO-aqa4/D; b 10-2qa2; c qa.

more than three significant figures. The deflections converge rapidly at the first several terms
of the series, while for the moment resultants terms below 10 (say m = 19) are satisfactory.
The shear force Qy are not so rapidly convergent, so that more than 20 (m = 39) terms are
needed to obtain reasonable accuracy. In the case of the shear force Qx at the centre of the
edge x = 0, the convergence is very slow, therefore the convergent values may be obtained by
taking some hundred terms. The numerical results presented in Tables 1 to 4 indicate that
the effect of shear deformation exhibits a tendency toward enlargement of the deflection and
reduction of the stress resultants, however, it is interesting to note that for certain boundary
conditions (S'S', CC and FF) the shear deformation has the effect of decreasing the deflection
and increasing the stress resultants at certain values of thickness-to-span ratio and elastic
foundation modulus.
Next, to demonstrate a principal difference between Mindlin theory and thin plate theory,
the shear force Qx and twisting moment Mxy distributions along the edge x = 0 and the shear
force Qy distributions along the centre line x=a/2 are computed for the case of di-
mensionless foundation modulus K ---3. The results are illustrated in Figs 2-10 for the plates
with S'S'-, CC- and FF-boundary conditions. In these figures, the results obtained from thin
plate theory are represented by dashed lines. The following observations may be made from
these figures.
1. SS-plate
The S-type simply supported condition implies M~y~0, and this condition is closely
approximated to thin plate theory. Although the distributions of Q~, Qy and M~y are not
presented herein, two theories agree very closely in the evaluations of these quantities.
2. S'S'-plate
The shear force Q~ predictions of both Mindlin and thin plate theories agree reasonably
well as shown in Fig. 2, though significant differences arise near the S'-type edge. Figure 3
 Rectangular Mindlin plates on elastic foundations 687

-0,40

-0,36
s' 0,1
s s
-0,30 " x

SI
y
-0,24
Mlndl In
Klrchhoff ¢~/

-0,18 h/o = /~~~0.i

0,02~,
-0,12

jS
0 0.i 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5
ylo

FIG. 2. Variations of Q), along the centre line x = a/2 of S'S'-plate.

O,035
Ss

SL x h/a =

.~
0.030

s, o.o5,~
0.025

% 0,020

0.015
/'\
Klrchhoff

0.010 /
O.050
/
3 0,i 0,2 0.3 0,4 0,5
y/o

FIG. 3. Variations of Mxy along the edge x = 0 of S'S'-plate.

MS 31:9-D
688 HARIYrOSHIKOBAYASHIand KEilCHIROSONODA

1,0
0,02

-1.0

-2.0
8 SS

S S
-3,0 ~x

ly S'
-tl,O - - -
-- Mlndlln
KI rchhoff
-5,0

-6,0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 O,q 0,5
y/o

FIG. 4. Variations of Qx along the edge x = 0 of S'S'-plate.

displays the twisting moment Mxy distributions and significant differences between two
theories are evident near to the plate corner. There is a shape fall from the peak values at the
corner. As the h/a ratio increases, the locations of the peak twisting moment shift towards
the centre of the edge and reduce in value. The peak values of Mxy approach the thin plate
theory peak value as the h/a ratio decreases. Figure 4 shows the shear force Qx distributions.
It follows from this figure that Mindlin theory agrees quite well with the thin plate theory
except in the vicinity of the plate corner. In the proximity of the corner, the Qx distributions
predicted by Mindlin theory exhibits an abrupt change from a positive value to a negative
value. For a very small h/a value, the nature of Q~ increases very rapidly at the corner.
Mindlin theory does not produce the concentrated reaction R at the corner of the plate
which acts there according to the thin plate theory.
3. CC-plate
Differences between the Qy distributions predicted by two theories are not apparent as
shown in Fig. 5. Figure 6 indicates that the distributions of Mxy along the S-type simply
supported edge. When the thickness of the plate is very small Mindlin and thin plate theories
give different values only in a very narrow zone close to the plate corner, but these differences
are not significant. As the h/a ratio increases, however, the differences between the
predictions of the two theories are clearly evident over most of the edge. Since the corner
value of M~y gradually increases as the h/a ratio increases, the difference in the predicted
values near the corner become significant. Moreover, it is clear that when the h/a value
exceeds some value the maximum twisting moment occurs at the corner. Figure 7 shows a
very different distribution for Q~ near the corner. At the corner the Qx values predicted by
Mindlin and thin plate theories are zero and a negative constant value, respectively.
4. FF-plate
It may be seen from Fig. 8 that the Qr curves exhibit abrupt changes at distances from the
free edge approximately equal to the plate thickness and Qy reaches its maximum value near
the free edge, where it is zero. When the thickness of the plate increases, the maximum value
 Rectangular Mindlin plates on elastic foundations 689

-0,;

-0,f
C h/o :
S S 0,02\
-0,5 • x

-O,q
Y

-
C

Mlndlln
2
Klrchhoff
-0,3

-0. S

f
0 0.1 0.2 0,3 0,4 0,5
y/o

FIG. 5. Variations of Qr along the centre line x=a/2 of CC-plate.

0,014

0,012
j
....._y

O,010 /

0,008
%
:E
- s x 1~,./
O'
0,006

y
O,004
Mlndl In
KIrchhoff
0,002
0.021

0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5

y/o

FIG. 6. Variations of Mxy along the edge x = 0 of CC-plate.

690 HARUTOSHI KOBAYASHIand KEIICHIRO SONODA

0.3

0.2

0,1
hlo =

-0,1
s
c j-x ~..
\~os

-0,2
Mlndl In 0 •02Y~"
Klrchhoff
-0.1

0 0,1 0,2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Y/O

FIG. 7. Variations of Q~ along the edge x=0 of CC-plate.

-0,035
F hi(I=
S S O'02~x~/
-0.030

,y F ~
-0.025

/
Kirchhoff
-0,020

-0.015

/
/
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 OJ1 0.5
YlO

F1o. 8. Variations of Qy along the centre line x=a/2 of FF-plate.

 Rectangular Mindlin plates on elastic foundations 691

-0.14

-0.12
F h/o=,~

-0. i0 S ,S x 0.05".

ry F
-0.08
% -- Mlndl In ,/
-. Klrchhoff /'
-0.06

-0.04

-0.02

0
0 o.i 0.2 o.3 0,4 o.s
y/o

FIG. 9. Variations of Mxy along the edge x = 0 of FF-plate.

2.8

2,4
F

s s
2,0 -x

F
Y
1.6
°° Mlndl In
x KI rchhoff
1.2

0.8
h/o = ~ ~
0.2\
0.4 0 - 0.i
0.2 toO.05~ ~"
0,02 ~ R
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 O.q 0.5
y/o

FIG. 10. Variations of Q~ along the edge x = 0 of FF-plate.

692 HARUTOSHIKOBAYASHIand KEIICHIROSONODA

of Qy predicted by Mindlin theory decreases. As the h/a ratio decreases, the maximum value
of Qy tends toward that predicted by thin plate theory. A similar tendency for Mxy along the
S-type simply supported edge x = 0 may be observed in Fig. 9. Substantial differences also
occur near to the corner, where Mindlin theory allows the required boundary conditions to
be satisfied whereas thin plate theory does not. In the case of the shear force Qx shown in
Fig. 10, the two theories agree except in the region near the corner. However, the Qx
distributions change rapidly over the narrow zone close to the corner and high Q~ value arise
at the corner as the h/a ratio decreases. This trend is very similar to the case of Q~,for the S'S'-
plate (see Fig. 4).

5. C O N C L U S I O N S

A method of analysis is established for the bending problems of rectangular plates on

Winkler foundations on the basis of Mindlin's thick plate theory. The plates are simply
supported on the two opposite edges and the other two edges may be arbitrarily restrained,
e.g. simply supported, clamped or free. The sixth-order uncoupled system of governing
equations are solved and the Levy-type single series solutions are presented. Their solution
forms are distinguished into three different forms depending upon the properties of plate
materials and the foundation modulus.
Numerical results for uniformly loaded square plates subjected to various boundary
conditions show the effect of shear deformation on the deflection and stress resultants.
Furthermore, the illustrated twisting moment and shear force distributions along the edges
and centre lines of the plate have revealed the principal differences between the results
predicted by Mindlin and thin plate theories.

Acknowledgements--The authors are indebted to Mr T. Okuda, Master Course Student, Department of Civil
Engineering, Osaka City University, for preparing the figures. The authors also wish to thank the reviewers for their
constructive criticism.

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(1945).
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Mech. 18, 31-38 (1951).
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