Experimental and numerical analysis of plates quasi-statically loaded by a rectangular indenter

In this paper, a series of experiments are performed in order to examine the response of clamped steel plates loaded quasi-statically at their centre by a rigid rectangular indenter. Four types of boundary conditions, which offer varying levels of the supports flexibility, are investigated in the finite element modelling study. The numerical simulations showed that the predicted permanent deflections of the plate are very sensitive to the way in which the supports are modeled. Simplified boundary conditions are formulated in order to account for the actual support constraint. The deformation modes for plates with different aspect ratios are analyzed and a new mode, which is observed in plates with relatively large aspect ratio, is defined within the rigid-plastic mechanism analysis framework. It was shown that the numerical simulations can predict accurately the permanent deflections and deformation modes when appropriate boundary conditions are applied. The influences of the aspect ratio and plate thickness, on both the boundary conditions definition and in-plane displacements are discussed from further numerical studies.