Finite Strip Method in Polar Coordinates

The finite strip method includes the bending of annular plate sectors. The plate sector is assumed to be simply supported along the radial edges with arbitrary boundary conditions along the circumferential edges. Attention is given to the stiffness matrix for an isotropic sector, a tapered thickness sector, and a polar orthotropic sector. For completeness the circular plate sector stiffness matrices are also provided. The equivalent load vectors for a concentrated and uniformly distributed load are presented. The finite strip results of a uniform thickness, isotropic annular plate sector subjected to a concentrated load were found to be identical to the exact solution using a two strip model. The identical agreement is not coincidental and is due to the choice of the assumed displacement pattern. The displacement function, which identically satisfies the homogeneous plate bending equilibrium equation, is also used to develop the stiffness matrices for the tapered thickness and polar orthotropic annular plate sectors.