Asymptotic Study of Plate Bending for a Strongly Orthotropic Materia

The technique of asymptotic averaging has been developed for three-dimensional partial differential equations with rapidly oscillating coefficients. For example, for the equations of elasticity theory. Then it was modified and applied to thin bodies in the form of plates (homogeneous or inhomogeneous, with even front surfaces or not), described by the three-dimensional theory of elasticity. In these cases, asymptotic solutions were constructed with respect to one small parameter, which is usually the ratio of the plate thickness to the characteristic plan size. The averaging technique in this case also reduces the dimension of the problem, i.e. reduces the three-dimensional boundary value problem to some two-dimensional one.

In this article, we substantiate the application of the method to a problem with two small parameters in the case of a homogeneous thin, highly orthotropic plate bent by a surface load without taking into account body forces. The second small parameter is the ratio of the transverse elastic moduli to the moduli in the plan of the plate. It is shown that strong orthotropy is equivalent to an increase in the thickness of the equivalent plate.

A procedure for obtaining the stress distribution over the plate thickness is described for three approximations. The first approximation gives the classical Kirchhoff theory, also called the Kirchhoff-Love theory, and the third approximation coincides with the Ambartsumian theory and allows one to find transverse shear and normal stresses. The consideration of cylindrical bending makes it possible to find solutions in the framework of classical plate theories in the form of formulas, as well as three approximations of the asymptotic theory, which simplifies comparison. Examples are considered when the averaged orthotropic moduli are taken for a single-layer fibrous composite.