A variational property of the von Kármán plate problem

Abstract

The solution of the boundary value problem of anisotropic Föppl–von Kármán plates is shown to be a critical point for a suitable energy functional. Moreover, under the assumption that the minimum of the total energy exists, we prove a saddle-point property and also deduce from it the form of the boundary conditions for plates clamped on part of the boundary and loaded on the complementary part.