Simple and exact series solutions for flexure of orthotropic rectangular plates with any combination of clamped and simply supported edges

Rectangular plates with arbitrary clamped edges are not easily amenable to exact analysis. Available solutions are either approximate or mathematically complex. The purpose of this paper to present an exact solution methodology for such problems based on superposition of double sine series solutions easily derived using the principle of virtual work. The paper includes tabulated results for two laminates for all possible combinations of clamped-simply supported edges, which would be valuable for future comparisons. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.