A refined shear deformation theory for bending analysis of isotropic and orthotropic plates under various loading conditions

In this paper, a refined trigonometric shear deformation theory is applied for the bending analysis of isotropic and orthotropic plates under the various loading conditions. The two unknown variables are involved in the present theory. The present theory satisfies the shear stress free condition at top and bottom surface of the plates without using shear correction factors. The governing equations and boundary conditions are obtained by using the principle of virtual work. A closed form solution is obtained using Navier Solution Scheme. A simply supported isotropic and orthotropic plate subjected to sinusoidally distributed, uniformly distributed and linearly varying loads are considered for the detailed numerical study. The results obtained using present theory are compared with previously published results.