Bending analysis of thick orthotropic sector plates with various loading and boundary conditions

In this study, bending analysis of a moderately thick orthotropic sector plate subjected to various loading conditions is presented. Different boundary conditions including clamped, simply supported and free are considered. The governing equations, assuming Reissner shear deformation theory, include eight first order partial differential equations in terms of r and θ with eight unknowns, i.e. displacements, rotations, bending and twisting moments and shear forces within the domain. Assuming unknown variables as separable functions of r and θ together with the extended Kantorovich method (EKM) leads to dual sets of eight first order ordinary differential equations. Iterative solutions are then presented for the resulted ODE systems. It is shown that the method provides accurate predictions for all displacement and stress resultant components with very fast convergence. The accuracy of the predicted results is examined using other published data in the literature. Finite element analysis is used to validate results for a wide range of loading and boundary conditions of sector plates for possible future studies.