ABSTRACT
Geometrically, circular plates are thin discs subjected to transverse loads which tend to bend and stretch them. This chapter presents some general equations that are common to all theories of axisymmetric circular plates. It is devoted to the development of the classical plate theory, which is a counter part of the classical beam theory. The couple stress theory is based on the hypothesis that the rate of change of macro-rotations cause additional stresses, called couple stresses, in the continuum. The chapter develops exact solutions of homogeneous circular plates for axisymmetric boundary conditions and loads. It considers some examples of the exact solutions of circular plates with different boundary conditions and loads. The chapter also considers the Ritz and Galerkin solutions for linear axisymmetric bending of circular plates.
