Effective widths of plates under uniformly varying edge displacements

An approximate method of evaluating the post-buckling characteristics of a simply supported plate, subjected to a uniformly varying displacement at the edges, is suggested based on the energy method and small-deflection theory. An estimate of plate strength is obtained by making the assumption that when the mid-plane stress at one of the edges reaches yield, the plate will no longer sustain any increase in loading. While the method can normally be expected to give an upper-bound estimate, the accuracy of prediction can be improved by using an enhanced value of initial plate imperfection.