Existence of solutions to obstacle problems for linear and nonlinear elastic plates

Obstacle contact problems for geometrically linear and nonlinear elastic plates were studied, provided that friction is negligible. Three linear and two nonlinear plate models were investigated. Unilateral contact with a rigid obstacle occurs through one of the faces of a plate. Already for linear models such contact problems lead, in general, to nonconvex minimization problems. Existence theorems formulated for plate models were considered.