Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
In this paper a simple expression in finite terms is found for the small transverse displacement of a thin plane elastic plate due to a transverse force applied at an arbitrary point of the plate. The plate is clamped along the semi-infinite straight lines represented by AB, CD in Fig. 1, these lines being the only boundaries of the plate. The transverse displacement w at any point (x, y) of the plate is a biharmonic function of the variables (x, y) which vanishes together with its normal derivative at all points of the boundary. Clearly w is also a function of the coordinates (x0, y0) of the point of application of the force, and it is known ((5), p. 173) that it is a symmetrical function of the coordinate pairs (z, y) and (x0, y0); it is the Green's function associated with the differential equation and the boundary conditions.