Using finite difference and differential transformation method to analyze of large deflections of orthotropic rectangular plate problem

This paper analyses the large deflections of an orthotropic rectangular clamped and simply supported thin plate. A hybrid method which combines the finite difference method and the differential transformation method is employed to reduce the partial differential equations describing the large deflections of the orthotropic plate to a set of algebraic equations. The simulation results indicate that significant errors are present in the numerical results obtained for the deflections of the orthotropic plate in the transient state when a step force is applied. The magnitude of the numerical error is found to reduce, and the deflection of the orthotropic plate to converge, as the number of sub-domains considered in the solution procedure increases. The deflection of the simply supported orthotropic plate is great than the clamped orthotropic plate. The current modeling results confirm the applicability of the proposed hybrid method to the solution of the large deflections of a rectangular orthotropic plate.