Circular Plates of Non‐Uniform Thickness: An Approximate Method of Stressing Capable of a High Degree of Accuracy

THIS paper presents an approximate method of stressing circular plates of non‐uniform thickness subjected to symmetrical lateral loading. Although exact solutions are available for plates of uniform thickness under various types of loading, solutions for plates of non‐uniform thickness have been obtained for only a few special instances. Generally, the problem does not admit of an exact solution, but the approximate method described here, which is similar to the well‐known ‘sum and difference’ method for rotating disks, is capable of a high degree of accuracy.