Mixed boundary conditions in the relaxational treatment of biharmonic problems (plane strain or stress)

Abstract

Relaxation methods have already been applied to the solution of four problems of (i) extension and (ii) flexure of flat elastic plates, in which ( a ) displacement or ( b ) traction is specified at the boundary. Here the method is adapted to the case in which the two types of boundary condition are mixed, where photo-elastic methods are difficult to apply. Two examples are treated by relaxation methods, and the results obtained indicate that this method may be a valuable alternative in engineering problems.