Principle of Minimum Total Potential Energy

In a linear elastic body, the strain energy stored in the body due to deformation is
1
2
T
V
U dV

(1)
and the loss of the potential energy of the applied loads for a conservative system is the negative
of the work done by the loads as the structure is deformed. The strain energy for a three-
dimensional isotropic medium on the Cartesian coordinate system is
( )
1

2
x x y y z z xy xy yz yz xz xz
U dxdydz + + + + +

(2)
Invoking the plane stress simplification adopted for a thin plate, results in ignoring
, ,
yx xz

and
z

. The constitutive law of a two-dimensional medium is

( )
( )
( )
2
2
1
1
2 1
x x y
y y x
xy xy
E
E
E

+
(3)
The displacement components at any pointing the plate,
, , , u v w
may be represented in
terms of the corresponding middle-plane displacement components,
, , , u v w
by
,
,
x
y
u u zw
v v zw
w w

(4)
The force-deformation relations (or kinematic relations) at any point in the plate are
( )
( )
2
, ,
2
, ,
, , , ,
/ 2
/ 2
x x x
y y y
xy y x x y
u w
u w
u v w w

+
+
+ +
(5)
1
The force-deformation relations (or kinematic relations) at any point on the plate middle plane
are
( )
( )
2
, ,
2
, ,
, , , ,
/ 2
/ 2
x x x
y y y
xy y x x y
u w
u w
u v w w

+
+
+ +
(6)
The total strains represented with a bar are sum of the membrane strain and bending strain such
that
,
,
,
2
x x xx
y y yy
xy xy xy
zw
zw
zw



+
+
+
(7)
Substituting Eqs. (3) into Eq. (2), gives
( )
2 2 2
2
1
2
2 2 1
x y x y xy
E
U dxdydz

_
+ + +

,
(8)
Introducing Eqs. (7) and integrating with respect to z leads to the relations
m b
U U U +
(9)
where
2 2 2
1
2
2 2
m x y x y xy
C
U dxdy

_
+ + +

,

(10)
and
( ) ( )
2 2 2
, , , , ,
2 2 1
2
b xx yy xx yy xy
D
U w w w w w dxdy + + +

(11)
where
( )
3
2 2
and
1 12 1
Eh Eh
C D



(12)
2
Equations (10) and (11) are referred to as the membrane strain energy and the bending strain
energy, respectively.
If the rectangular plate (
0 , 0 x a y b
) is subjected to a uniformly distributed
transverse load of p, the loss of potential during deformation is
0 0

b a
p
V pw dxdy

If the plate is also subjected to a uniformly distributed edge load of
x
P
along the edges
0 and x x a , the loss of potential energy may be written
( ) ( ) 0
x
P x
V P u a u 1
]
or
0 0
1

x
b a
P x
u
V P dxdy
b x

The total loss of the potential energy of the applied loads is
1

x
u
V P pw dxdy
b x
_

,

(13)
The total potential energy functional is then
U V F dxdy +

(14)
where
( ) ( )
2 2 2
2 2 2
, , , , ,
1
2
2 2
2 2 1
2
1

x y x y xy
xx yy xx yy xy
x
C
F
D
w w w w w
u
P pw
b x

_
+ + +

,
+ + + +
_
+

,
(15)
The finite strains associated with Eq. (15) are given by Eqs. (6).
3
For equilibrium, the total potential energy functional

must be stationary, i.e., its first

variation must be equal to zero. Accordingly, the integrand F in Eq. (15) must satisfy the
Euler-Lagrange differential equations. They are given by Bleich (1952)
1
and Langhaar (1962)
2
.
, ,
, ,
2 2 2
2 2
, , , , ,
0
0
0
x y
x y
x y xx xy yy
F F F
u x u y u
F F F
v x v y v
F F F F F F
w x w y w x w x y w y w







+ + +

(16)
From Eq. (15)
0
F
u

( )
,
2 2
2
x
x y
x
P F C
u b

+ +

( )
,
1
2
xy
y
F C
u

1
]

0
F
v

( )
,
1
2
x
xy
x
P F C
v b

1 +
]

( )
,
2 2
2
y x
y
F C
v

F
p
w

( ) ( )
, ,
,
2 2 1
2
x y x xy y
x
F C
w w
w

1
+ +
]

1
Bleich, F. (1952). Buckling Strength of Metal Structures, McGraw-Hill.
2
Langhaar, H.L. (1962). Energy Methods in Applied Mechanics, Wiley.
4
( ) ( )
, ,
,
2 2 1
2
y x x xy x
y
F C
w w
w

1
+ +
]

( )
, ,
,
2 2
2
xx yy
xx
F D
w w
w

( )
,
,
4 1
2
xy
xy
F D
w
w

1
]

( )
, ,
,
2 2
2
yy xx
yy
F D
w w
w

Substituting these into Euler-Lagrange differential equations, Eqs. (16), yields

( )
,
,
1
0
2
x y xy x
x
C


1
+ +
1
]
(17a)
( )
,
,
1
0
2
xy x y x
y
C


1
+ +
1
]
(17b)
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
, , , , ,
, ,
,
, ,
,
2 1
2 2 1
2 2 1
xxxx xxyy xxyy yyyy xxyy
x y x xy y
x
y x x xy x
y
D w w w w w
C w w
C w w p



1
+ + + +
]
1
+ +
]
1
+ +
]
(17c)
The resisting internal forces and moments are related to the stresses by the equations
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2


h h
h h x x y y
h h
h h xy xy yx yx
h h
h h x xz y yz
h h
h h x x y y
h h
h h xy xy yx yx
N dz N dz
N dz N dz
Q dz Q dz
M z dz M z dz
M z dz M z dz




















(18)
5
Substituting the plane stress constitutive law expressed in Eq. (3) along with the total strains are
the sum of the membrane strains and the bending strains as given by Eq. (7) into Eq. (18), yields
the equations
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
,
,
,
,
,
1
1
2
x x y x xx
y y x x xx
xy xy xy xy
yx xy yx xy
N C M D w w yy
N C M D w w yy
N C M D w
N N M M

+ +
+ +
_


,

(19)
Substituting Eqs. (19) into Eqs. (17), yields
( )
, ,
, ,
4
, , ,
0
0
2
x x xy y
xy x y y
x xx xy xy y yy
N N
N N
D w N w N w N w p
+
+
+ +
(20)
The term containing the edge load
x
P
has been eliminated from these equations of equilibrium.
The edge load, however, enters the analysis in the boundary condition;
/ at 0,
x x
N P b x a
.
Equations (20) reveal that they are a set of nonlinear differential equations with four
variables
, , , and
x xy y
N N N w
. Three equations in three unknowns
, , u v w
may be obtained by
substituting constitutive, Eqs. (19), and kinematic, Eqs. (6), relations. The resulting equations
are
( )
( )
( ) ( )
2 2
, , , , , , , ,
,
,
2 2
, , , , , , , ,
,
,
4 2 2
, , , , , , , , ,
1 1 1
0
2 2 2
1 1 1
0
2 2 2
1 1
1
2 2
x x y y y x x x
y
x
y x x x y y x x
x
x
x x y y xx y x x x
u w v w u v w w
u v w w v w u w
D w C u w v w w C u v w w w

1 _ _
+ + + + + +
1
, , ]
1 _ _
+ + + + + +
1
, , ]
1 _ _
+ + + + +
1
, , ]
,
2 2
, , , , ,
1 1

2 2
xy
y y x x yy
C v w u w w p
1 _ _
+ + +
1
, , ]
(21)
6
A set of two equations in two unknowns may be obtained by introducing a stress function f (not
the Airys stress function) defined as
, ,

x yy y xx xy xy
N f N f N f
(22)
where ( ) , f f x y
. It can be seen that Eqs. (22) satisfy the first two equations of Eqs. (20)
identically. Substituting Eqs. (22) into third equation of Eqs. (20), yields
( )
4
, , ,
2
x xx xy xy y yy
D w N w N w N w p + +
(23)
The following geometric compatibility equation can be extracted
1, 2
from Eqs. (6):
2
, , , , , , x yy y xx xy xy xy xx yy
w w w +
(24)
From Eqs. (19) and (22), the strains in the plate middle plane can be related to the stress function
( )
( )
( )
, ,
, ,
,
1
1
2 1
x yy xx
y xx yy
xy xy
f f
Eh
f f
Eh
f
Eh

+

(25)
Substituting Eqs. (25) into Eq. (24), results in
( )
4 2
, , ,
0
xy xx yy
f Eh w w w
(26)
Equations (23) and (26) form two equations in two unknowns, w and f. They are called the
equilibrium and compatibility equations, respectively. These equations are known as von
Krmn equations for finite deflections of flat plates.
To obtain the equilibrium equations of linear plate theory, it is necessary to ignore
quadratic and cubic terms in the displacement components. The linear equations corresponding
to Eqs. (20) are
1
Timoshenk, S., and Woinowsky-Kroeger, S. (1959). Theory of Plates and Shells, McGraw-Hill.
2
Brush, D.O., and Almroth, B.O. (1975. Buckling of Bars, Plates, and Shells, McGraw-Hill.
7
, ,
, ,
4
0
0
x x xy y
xy x y y
N N
N N
D w p
+
+

(27)
The corresponding linear plate constitutive and kinematic relations are
( )
( )
( )
,
,
, ,
1 / 2
x x y x x
y y x y y
xy xy xy y x
N C u
N C v
N C u v



+
+
+
(28)
As can be seen, the last equation of Eqs. (27) is uncoupled. The relative simplicity of the
classical theory of thin-plates is a consequence of this uncoupling.
8