CIVE 7397: Plates and Shells

September 18, 2014

Homework No. 4

1. Prob. 3.7. For the bending stress, compute both the

pts.)

max

and the
x

max

. (10
y

2. Prob. 3.8. The loading is given as p = po sin (y / b). (10 pts.)

3. Prob. 3.11. Also, compute the maximum x. (10 pts.)
4. Prob. 5.3. Use just one term of the Fourier series, i.e. m = n = 1. (10 pts.)
5. Prob. 5.5. Make sure that you do NOT assume a = b in this problem. (30
pts.)
(a)Complete the problem as directed in the book.
(b)Find the magnitude of the corner forces for m = n = 1 only. What is the
direction of this force? Make a three-dimensional sketch of the plate.
Show the load P at the center of this plate and then show the four
corner forces on this plate.
(c) Using the equation for displacements developed in (a) and truncating
the series after just one term for m = n = 1, find the displacement at
the center of the plate due to a concentrated load P acting at x = a/4
and y = b/4.
6. A uniform load of p = 100 lb/ft is acting on a 10-foot long (L = 10) beam
and we intend to simulate the distribution of this load using a Fourier
series in the form of
p = pm sin (mx / L) where m = 1, 3, 5, 7, ... (10 pts.)
(a)Determine the coefficient pm for m = 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. We will truncate
the series after these five terms.
(b)For each of the five harmonic terms above, tabulate the magnitude of
the load as given by p = pm sin (mx / L) at 11 points (1-foot increment)
along the length of the beam.
(c) For each of the five harmonic terms, tabulate the cumulative magnitude
of the load as given by p = pm sin (mx / L) at those 11 points. How

many terms are needed to realistically simulate the load with less than
5% of error in the middle span of the beam length?
You may use a spreadsheet to present your work for this problem. If you
do, please format the cells such that the decimal points are fixed at the
same location for all numbers in a given column. It requires more effort to
read a table when the decimal points move from line to line and, therefore,
the presentation of a computer print-out in such a form is considered
unprofessional.