Bending of rectangular plates carried by vacuum cups

In order to carry thin plates, vacuum cups are frequently used. When the over-hang is large, the deflections and stresses of the plate have considerably large values. In this paper, the rectangular plate hung by circular vacuum cups is treated. The analysis is carried out for the plate, which is subjected to line loads and radial bending moments at the inner circular boundary and free at the outer rectangular boundary. In addition to these boundary conditions, the plate is subjected to different distributed loads on inner and outer domains. First, the general solutions for the deflections on each domain are obtained by using infinite series, which are expressed by the polar coordinate system. The several undetermined constants in these equations are decreased by the conditions of continuity at the inner boundaries. Satisfying the boundary conditions at the finite points on the outer edges of the plate, the deflections and stresses of the plate and the contact pressures between the plate and the vacuum cup are calculated. Typical results are presented in dimensionless graphical form for different parameters and vacuum cup edge conditions.