Rotational continuity in thin transversely deflected iron plates

Under certain conditions, metals and alloys deform plastically in such a way that the rotation-rate vector remains spatially continuous. The paper describes experiments aimed at investigating this effect in the case of iron sheet specimens clamped around a circle and deflected transversely at the centre by a steel ball bearing. It is shown that deformation is associated with a slip-line field on radial sectioning planes, while the theoretical force required to deflect the ball agrees with that calculated under the assumption of rotation-rate continuity.