1.

0 APPLICATION OF PLATE THEORY

Plates are straight, plane, two-dimensional structural components of which one dimension,
referred to as thickness h, is much smaller than the other dimensions. Geometrically they are
bound either by straight or curved lines. Like their counterparts, the beams, they not only
serve as structural components but can also form complete structures such as slab bridges, for
example. Statically plates have free, simply supported and fixed boundary conditions,
including elastic supports and elastic restraints, or, in some cases, even point supports (Fig.
I.1). The static and dynamic loads carried by plates are predominantly perpendicular to the
plate surface. These external loads are carried by internal bending and torsional moments and
by transverse shear forces.

Figure I.1 Various boundary conditions for plates.

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 (a1) Reinforced concrete slabs in buildings

(a2) Steel bridge deck

Slab bridge

(a) Use of plates in construction industry

Figure I.2 Use of plates in various fields of engineering.

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 Figure I.2 (continued)

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 Figure I.2 (continued)

Since the load-carrying action of plates resembles to a certain extent that of beams,
plates can be approximated by gridworks of beams. Such an approximation,
however, arbitrarily breaks the continuity of the structure and usually leads to
incorrect results unless the actual two-dimensional behavior of plates is correctly
accounted for.

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The two-dimensional structural action of plates results in lighter structures and,
therefore, offers economical advantages. Furthermore, numerous structural
configurations require partial or even complete enclosure that can easily be
accomplished by plates, without the use of additional covering, resulting in further
savings in material and labor costs. Consequently, plates and plate-type structures
have gained special importance and notably increased applications in recent years.
A large number of structural components in engineering structures can be classified
as plates. Typical examples in civil engineering structures are floor and foundation
slabs, lock-gates,thin retaining walls, bridge decks and slab bridges. Plates are also
indispensable in shipbuilding and aerospace industries. The wings and a large part
of the fuselage of an aircraft, for example, consist of a slightly curved plate skin with
an array of stiffened ribs. The hull of a ship, its deck and its superstructure are
further examples of stiffened plate structures. Plates are also frequently parts of
machineries and other mechanical devices. Figure I.2 schematically illustrates some
of these industrial applications.

The main objective to any structural analysis is to ensure that the structure under
investigation shall have an adequate safety factor against failure within reasonable
economical bounds. Furthermore, the structure shall be serviceable when subjected
to design loads. A part of serviceability can be achieved, for example, by imposing
suitable limitations on deflections.

The majority of plate structures is analyzed by applying the governing equations

of the theory of elasticity.

In all structural analyses the engineer is forced, due to the complexity of any real
structure, to replace the structure by a simplified analysis model equipped only with
those important parameters that mostly influence its static or dynamic response to
loads. In plate analysis such idealizations concern :

1. the geometry of the plate and its supports,

2. the behavior of the material used, and
3. the type of loads and their way of application.

we can attempt to subdivide plates into the following major categories:

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There is, however, a considerable “gray” area between stiff plates and membranes;
namely, if we do not limit the deflections of stiff plates, we obtain so-called flexible
plates, which carry the external loads by the combined action of internal moments,
transverse and central shear forces and axial forces (Fig. I.3c). Consequently, elastic
plate theories distinguish sharply between plates having small and large deflections.
Plates having large deflections are avoided, for the most part, in general engineering
practice since they might create certain problems in their analysis as well as in their
use. The safety-driven and weight-conscious aerospace and submarine-building
industries are forced, however, to disregard these disadvantages since such plates
possess considerably increased load-carrying capacities.

Plate theories can also be grouped according to their stress-strain relationships.

Linear-elastic plate theories are based on the assumption of a linear relationship
between stress and strain according to the well-known Hooke’s law, whereas
nonlinear elasticity, plasticity and viscoelasticity consider more complex stress-strain
relationships. All these theories, with the exception of viscoelasticity, which treats
dynamic conditions only, may be further subdivided into statics and dynamics of
plates, depending on whether the external loads are of static or dynamic nature, as
is done in the more elementary beam theories.

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 Figure I.3 Internal forces in various types of plate elements.

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2.0 PLATE FORMULATION

Plates may be considered similar to beams, however:

– Plates can bend in two directions
– Plates are flat with a thickness (can’t have an interesting cross-section)

2.1 THIN PLATE FORMULATION

Consider a thin plate on the xy plane (z = 0), with thickness t, & neglecting shear strain.
If we take a differential slice from plate:

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This is similar to the beam formula, but since the plate is very wide we have a situation
similar to plain strain.

For a unit width beam, flexural rigidity

D=EI=Et3/12.

For a unit width plate, flexural rigidity

D=EI/(1-n 2)= Et3/[12(1-n 2)].

This thin plate theory is also called the “Kirchhoff plate theory.”

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3.0 ANALYSIS OF WAFFLE SLAB BY PLATE THEORY BASED ON
TIMOSHENCO

Fig 3.1 Reinforced Concrete waffle slab

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Based on Timoshenko’s plate theory (Timoshenko 1987) the waffle slab (Figure 1a) can be
assumed to be an orthotropic plate, when simply supported. The plate deflection Δ can be
expressed as :

Where w = Load per unit area,

Dx , Dy = Flexural rigidity per unit length of plate in x and y direction.
C1 , C2 = Torsional rigidity per unit length of plate in x and y direction.
Mx ,My, are bending moments
Mxy = Torsional moments

Qx, Qy = Shear on strips of unit width spanning in x and y directions respectively.

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4.0 APPLICATION OF SHELL THEORY

Structures can be classified in many ways according to their shape, their function and the
materials from which they are made [Adriaenssens et al., 2014]. The most obvious definition
of a shell might be through its geometry. A structure or structural element may be a fully
three-dimensional solid object, or it might have some dimensions notable smaller than others.
A beam is straight and it is relatively long in comparison to its cross-section. Thus it is
defined by a straight line. An arch is defined by a curved line and a plate by a plane. A shell
is a structure defined by a curved surface. It is thin in the direction perpendicular to the
surface, but there is no absolute rule as to how thin it has to be. It might be curved in two
directions, like a dome or a cooling tower, or it may be cylindrical and curve only in one
direction.
This definition would clearly include birds’ eggs, sea shells (figure 1) and concrete shells,
such as Felix Candela’s Chapel Lomas de Cuernavaca (figure 2) and Nervi’s Palazzetto dello
Sport (figure 3). It would also include ships, monocoque car bodies and aircraft fuselages
(coque is one of the French words for a shell), drinks cans, glasses cases (figure 4), all sorts
of objects.
But this definition would also include tension structures like sails, balloons and car tyres. If
one wanted to exclude tension structures, one might stipulate that shells have to work in both
tension and compression, but that would exclude masonry vaults that can only work in
compression [Block, 2009, Heyman, 1995]. Most people would describe masonry vaults such
as the hˆ otel de ville in Arles (figure 6) or the fan vaulting of Bath Abbey (figure 5) as shell
structures.

Figure 1: Giant clam shell

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 Figure 2: Chapel Lomas de Cuernavaca by Felix Candela

Figure 3: Palazzetto dello Sport by Pier Luigi Nervi

Figure 4: Glasses case

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 Figure 5: Fan vaulting of Bath Abbey. Photo: Adrian Pingstone

Figure 6: L’h ˆ otel de ville d’Arles. Photo: Jacqueline Poggi

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Figure 7: Colander Figure 8: sieve

Figure 9: Viaduc de Garabit, Gustave Eiffel, Maurice Koechlin, L´eon

Boyer. Photo: J. Thurion (Belgavox)

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1. Tension structures: strings, nets and fabric structures
2. Straight line elements: beams, columns
3. Curved line elements: arches, rings
4. Plates: slabs, walls
5. Shells: timber, concrete, metal or masonry
6. Fully three dimensional lumps of material

A colander (figure 7) is a curved surface structure. It contains holes for draining food, but
these holes do not stop it being shell. It is a continuous surface with a relatively small area
removed. A sieve (figure 8) is very similar, except that the surface is made from a large
number of initially straight wires which are woven into a flat sheet and then bent into a
hemisphere. It is a also a shell, a gridshell - see section 5. This is very much like assembling
lots of straight line elements to form trussed arch such as that of the Viaduc de Garabit
(figure 9).

Clearly there is some similarity between a sieve and a spider web -they are both lattice-like
and are intended to catch things. The spiderweb is essentially flat and made up of straight
elements and when the wind blows it bows outwards like a sail and becomes curved. It
therefore adjusts its shape to the loading, which is the characteristic of tension structures. The
sieve may be in tension, compression or a mixture of the two. Where it is in compression
deflections lead to the structure becoming less able to carry the load, possibly leading to
buckling. Columns carry loads via axial forces, but bending stiffness is required to stop
buckling, and so it is with shells, although with shells buckling is resisted by a combination
of bending and in-plane action.

Figure 10: Spiderweb

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 4.1 HOW DO SHELLS WORK?

Shells use all the modes of structural action available to beams,struts, arches, cables and
plates, plus another mode that we might call ‘shell action’, which we will now try and pin
down. Structural elements that approximate to lines (beams, arches and cables) or to surfaces
(plates and shells) all share the same property: they are much easier to bend than to stretch.
We use the word ‘stretch’ to mean change in length, possibly getting shorter, a ‘negative
stretch’.Clearly a cable will stretch when we apply a tension to it. A column will undergo a
negative stretch when we apply a compression to it.
But if we apply more load it will buckle and it will get shorter through bending, rather than
axial strain.
A parabolic arch or cable can carry a uniform vertical load per unit horizontal length using
only axial compression or tension. The component of load perpendicular to the cable is
balanced by the axial force multiplied by the curvature. Thus load in KN/m is balanced by a
force in KN multiplied by the curvature in 1=metres. Note that curvature is defined as
1/radius of curvature). Other loads will cause bending moment in the arch or deflection of the
cable. The arch bending moment is the product of the thrust and its eccentricity from the axis.

4.2 HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO KNOW TO DESIGN A SHELL?

Thus in practice one has three possible approaches:

1. Simple hand calculations ‘informed’ by the classical theory of shells
2. Numerical analysis using a computer
3. Physical testing

Numerical analysis almost invariably uses the finite element method in the form of shell
elements for continuous shells or beam elements for grid shells. The derivation of the finite
element equations does not really depend very much on the theory of shells, except for being
able to work in a curvilinear coordinates.

The shape functions of the finite element method produce algebraic equations. These
equations may be linear or non-linear according to the material behaviour and whether one is
concerned with buckling. The equations might be solved using an ‘implicit’ method
involving inversion of a stiffness matrix or an ‘explicit’ method like Dynamic Relaxation or
Verlet integration.

However, as we have already noted, the structural behaviour of shells can be so complicated
that numerical predictions may be inaccurate and so there is still a place for physical testing.
Physical testing of ‘sketch models’ can also give a qualitative insight that cannot be obtained
from a numerical analysis.

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The Mannheim shells are partly braced by diagonal cables and some steel gridshells are
braced in the same way, such as the Hippo House at Berlin Zoo 1996 by J¨org Gribl and
Schlaich Bergerman und Partner (figure 11).

Figure 11: Hippo House, Berlin Zoo 1996 by J¨org Gribl and Schlaich
Bergerman und Partner.

Figure 12: British Museum Great Court 2000, by Foster + Partners,

Buro Happold and Waagner Biro

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The steel gridshell for the British Museum Great by Foster + Partners, Buro Happold and
Waagner Biro (figure 12) is fully triangulated. However it is not properly supported because
the existing building cannot take the horizontal thrusts from the roof and it is therefore on
sliding bearings. This means that it can only thrust into the corners where the horizontal force
is resisted by tension in the edge beams. Thus the shell cannot work by membrane action
alone.

Figure 13: Aichtal Outdoor Theatre by Michael Balz and Heinz Isler

5.0 CONCLUSION

In practice there will be all sorts of functional and aesthetic constraints which will mean that
the shell will not be structurally optimum.The Aichtal Outdoor Theatre by Michael Balz and
Heinz Isler(figure 13) is clearly not ‘properly’ supported all around its boundary. If it were it
would not fulfil the architectural and aesthetic constraints. However the negative Gaussian
curvature ‘lip’ at the free edges reduces the possibility of inextensional modes of deformation
and thereof is an optimal design.
Thus we can summarise our discussion as follows:

 Shell structures can be represented geometrically by surfaces.

 Shells are relatively rigid and this separates them from tension structures such as nets,
balloons and sails.

 Shells work by a combination of membrane and bending action. Membrane action is

more efficient but bending action is required to stop buckling and possible
inextensible modes of deformation.

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  The more efficient the shell, the more sudden the buckling collapse.

 Hand calculations for shells are very difficult or impossible. However some
understanding of shell theory will help with choice of shell shape and interpreting
computer and model test results.

6.0 REFERENCES

 Sigrid Adriaenssens, Philippe Block, Diederik Veenendaal, and Chris Williams. Shell
Structures for Architecture: Form Finding and Optimization. Routledge, 2014.

 Philippe Block. Thrust Network Analysis: Exploring Threedimensional Analysis. PhD

thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2009.

 S. P. Timoshenko and J. N. Goodier. Theory of Elasticity. McGraw- Hill, New York,

3rd edition, 1970.

 Mallick S.K & Bhushan N (1983) “Methods of Analysis of reinforcedNconcrete grids

for roofs and floors” Indian Concrete Journal Vol. 57, No.9, pp. 241-246.

 Indrajit Chowdhury and Jitendra P. Singh “Analysis and design of waffle slab with
different boundary conditions” Indian Concrete Journal -2010

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