• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.249-267
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• 2003

In this study, circular plates subjected to general type of loads and supported on a two-parameter elastic foundation are analysed. The stiffness, elastic bedding and soil shear effect matrices of a fully compatible ring sector plate element, developed by Saygun (1974), are obtained numerically assuming variable thickness of the element. Ring sector soil finite element is also defined to determine the deflection of the soil surface outside the domain of the plate in order to establish the interaction between the plate and the soil. According to Vallabhan and Das (1991) the elastic bedding (C) and shear parameters ($C_T$) of the foundation are expressed depending on the elastic constants ($E_s$, $V_s$) and the thickness of compressible soil layer ($H_s$) and they are calculated with a suitable iterative procedure. Using ring sector elements presented in this paper, permits the generalization of the loading and the boundary conditions of the soil outside the plate.