On the bending problems of anisotropic (orthotropic) plates resting on elastic foundations that react in compression only

ln several works, the bending of plates resting on elastic foundations that react in compression only have been investigated. In all of these investigations, the bending of the plates is described within the framework of Kirchhoff-Love hypothesis and the material of those plates are supposed to be isotropic. Therefore, the results of the above-mentioned investigations are not suitable for the bending of the plates fabricated from the composite materials and resting on the elastic foundation that react in compression only. In the present paper, the development of the solution method of the bending problems of the plates fabricated from the composite materials on the "tensionless" elastic foundation is proposed and the influence of the plate material properties to the displacement distribution and the form of the contact region is studied with concrete problems as an example. In this case, the plate material is modelled as an anisotropic material with the normalized mechanical properties ; and the bending of the plate is described by using some version of the higher order refined plate theory. Moreover, with respect to the foundation, the following cases are considered; (1) Winkler foundation: (2) elastic half-space. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.