Stresses and displacements in perforated plates

This paper presents results of an analytical investigation of stresses and displacements in perforrated plates, these results being of interest in such applications as tube sheets and grid plates in boilers, heat exchangers, and nuclear power reactors. The results are felt to be more comprehensive and detailed than those which can be obtained through the use of ligament theory.

The plates are assumed to be uniform in thickness and of infinite extent in both directions and to have an infinite number of circular holes uniformly distributed in a regular triangular array. The investigation considers the plane stress problem within the usual assumptions of classical elasticity theory. Some remarks on the applicability of these results to the approximate solution of normal bending problems are included.

Corresponding results for the normal bending problems of perforated plates are not given at the present time. However, in the absence of these solutions and pending their acquisition, the results for the plane stress problems given in the present paper might be used to deduce approximate results for the related pure bending and pure twisting problems.