On the boundary layer phenomenon in bending of thick annular sector plates using third-order shear deformation theory

Journal article, 2010

In this article, the bending equations of thick annular sector plates are extracted based on the third-order shear deformation theory. Using a function, called boundary layer function, the coupled system of equations is converted into two decoupled equations. These equations are used to find a closed form solution for bending of thick transversely isotropic annular sector plates. It is shown that the solution of one of the decoupled equations has a boundary layer behavior like that of Mindlin plate theory. It is seen that the value of the boundary layer function for third order shear deformation theory is higher than that of the Mindlin theory. Thus, variations of stress components in the edge zone of the plate are more significant. Also, as in the Mindlin plate theory, there exist no boundary layer, a weak boundary layer, and a strong boundary layer effect for simply supported, clamped, and free edges, respectively.