Notes on the behavior of transversely loaded inextensible plates

The governing equations for incompressible plates exhibiting a &recUon ofinextenslblhty are developed ltl this paper The motwatlon for the analysis of such materials is the rise in popularity of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, though the conclusions reached apply equally well to incompressible materials exhlbltlng very large degrees of amsotropy In the course of the development, the irrLportance of transverse shear response is demonstrated, indicating that lower order plate theories cannot be used to realistically model mcompressible/inextensible materials. As is the case with othe~ plate theories, the in-plane and transverse responses uncouple A sample analysis, revolving only the transverse response, ,s performed and the results are compared to a simplified solution that Is hkewlse derived herein