Three-dimensional elasticity problems are very difficult to solve.

Thus we
will first develop governing equations for two-dimensional problems, and
will explore four different theories:

- Plane Strain
- Plane Stress
- Generalized Plane Stress
- Anti-Plane Strain
The basic theories of plane strain and plane stress represent the
fundamental plane problem in elasticity. While these two theories apply to
significantly different types of two-dimensional bodies, their formulations
yield very similar field equations.
Since all real elastic structures are three-dimensional, theories set forth
here will be approximate models. The nature and accuracy of the
approximation will depend on problem and loading geometry
Two vs Three Dimensional Problems
x
y
z
x
y
z
Three-Dimensional
Two-Dimensional
x
y
z
Spherical Cavity
Plane Strain
Consider an infinitely long cylindrical (prismatic) body as shown. If the body
forces and tractions on lateral boundaries are independent of the z-coordinate
and have no z-component, then the deformation field can be taken in the
reduced form
x
y
z
R
0 , ) , ( , ) , ( = = = w y x v v y x u u
Plane Strain Field Equations
0 ,
2
1
, , = = =
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
=
c
c
=
c
c
=
yz xz z xy y x
e e e
x
v
y
u
e
y
v
e
x
u
e
0 , 2
) ( ) (
2 ) ( , 2 ) (
= t = t = t
o + o v = + = o
+ + = o + + = o
yz xz xy xy
y x y x z
y y x y x y x x
e
e e
e e e e e e
Strains
Stresses
Equilibrium Equations
0
0
= +
c
o c
+
c
t c
= +
c
t c
+
c
o c
y
y xy
x
xy
x
F
y x
F
y x
Navier Equations
0 ) (
0 ) (
2
2
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
+ + V
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
+ + V
y
x
F
y
v
x
u
y
v
F
y
v
x
u
x
u
Strain Compatibility
y x
e
x
e
y
e
xy y
x
c c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
2
2
2
2
2
2
Beltrami-Michell Equation
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
v
= o + o V
y
F
x
F
y
x
y x
1
1
) (
2
Examples of Plane Strain Problems
x
y
z
x
y
z
P
Long Cylinders
Under Uniform Loading
Semi-Infinite Regions
Under Uniform Loadings
Plane Stress
Consider the domain bounded two stress free planes z = h, where h is
small in comparison to other dimensions in the problem. Since the region is
thin in the z-direction, there can be little variation in the stress components
through the thickness, and thus they will be approximately zero
throughout the entire domain. Finally since the region is thin in the z-
direction it can be argued that the other non-zero stresses will have little
variation with z. Under these assumptions, the stress field can be taken as
0
) , (
) , (
) , (
= t = t = o
t = t
o = o
o = o
yz xz z
xy xy
y y
x x
y x
y x
y x

x
y
z
R
2h
yz xz z
t t o , ,
Plane Stress Field Equations
Strains
Strain Displacement Relations
Equilibrium Equations
0
0
= +
c
o c
+
c
t c
= +
c
t c
+
c
o c
y
y xy
x
xy
x
F
y x
F
y x
Navier Equations
Strain Compatibility
y x
e
x
e
y
e
xy y
x
c c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
2
2
2
2
2
2
Beltrami-Michell Equation
0 ,
1
) (
1
) (
) (
1
, ) (
1
= = t
v +
=
+
v
v
= o + o
v
=
vo o = vo o =
yz xz xy xy
y x y x z
x y y y x x
e e
E
e
e e
E
e
E
e
E
e
0
2
1
, 0
2
1
2
1
, , ,
=
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
= =
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
=
c
c
=
c
c
=
c
c
=
x
w
z
u
e
y
w
z
v
e
x
v
y
u
e
z
w
e
y
v
e
x
u
e
xz yz
xy z y x
0
) 1 ( 2
0
) 1 ( 2
2
2
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
v
+ V
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
v
+ V
y
x
F
y
v
x
u
y
E
v
F
y
v
x
u
x
E
u
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
v + = o + o V
y
F
x
F
y
x
y x
) 1 ( ) (
2
Examples of Plane Stress Problems
Thin Plate With
Central Hole
Circular Plate Under
Edge Loadings
Plane Elasticity Boundary Value Problem
R
S
o
S
i
S = S
i
+ S
o
x

y

Displacement Boundary Conditions
Stress/Traction Boundary Conditions
S on y x v v y x u u
b b
) , ( , ) , ( = =
S on n n y x T T
n n y x T T
y
b
y x
b
xy
b
y
n
y
y
b
xy x
b
x
b
x
n
x
) ( ) ( ) (
) ( ) ( ) (
) , (
) , (
o + t = =
t + o = =
Plane Strain Problem - Determine in-
plane displacements, strains and stresses
{u, v, e
x
, e
y
, e
xy
, o
x
, o
y
, t
xy
} in R. Out-of-
plane stress o
z
can be determined from
in-plane stresses via relation (7.1.3)
3
.
Plane Stress Problem - Determine in-
plane displacements, strains and stresses
{u, v, e
x
, e
y
, e
xy
, o
x
, o
y
, t
xy
} in R. Out-of-
plane strain e
z
can be determined from
in-plane strains via relation (7.2.2)
3
.
Correspondence Between Plane Formulations
Plane Strain Plane Stress
0 ) (
0 ) (
2
2
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
+ + V
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
+ + V
y
x
F
y
v
x
u
y
v
F
y
v
x
u
x
u
0
0
= +
c
o c
+
c
t c
= +
c
t c
+
c
o c
y
y xy
x
xy
x
F
y x
F
y x
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
v
= o + o V
y
F
x
F
y
x
y x
1
1
) (
2
0
) 1 ( 2
0
) 1 ( 2
2
2
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
v
+ V
= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
v
+ V
y
x
F
y
v
x
u
y
E
v
F
y
v
x
u
x
E
u
0
0
= +
c
o c
+
c
t c
= +
c
t c
+
c
o c
y
y xy
x
xy
x
F
y x
F
y x
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
+
c
c
v + = o + o V
y
F
x
F
y
x
y x
) 1 ( ) (
2
Transformation Between
Plane Strain and Plane Stress
Plane strain and plane stress field equations had identical equilibrium equations
and boundary conditions. Naviers equations and compatibility relations were
similar but not identical with differences occurring only in particular coefficients
involving just elastic constants. So perhaps a simple change in elastic moduli
would bring one set of relations into an exact match with the corresponding
result from the other plane theory. This in fact can be done using results in the
following table.
E v
Plane Stress to Plane Strain
2
1 v
E

v
v
1

Plane Strain to Plane Stress
2
) 1 (
) 2 1 (
v +
v + E

v +
v
1


Therefore the solution to one plane problem also yields the solution to the other
plane problem through this simple transformation scheme.
Generalized Plane Stress
The plane stress formulation produced some inconsistencies in particular out-
of-plane behavior and resulted in some three-dimensional effects where in-
plane displacements were functions of z. We avoided these issues by simply
neglecting some of the troublesome equations thereby producing an
approximate elasticity formulation. In order to avoid this unpleasant situation,
an alternate approach called Generalized Plane Stress can be constructed
based on averaging the field quantities through the thickness of the domain.
Using the averaging operator defined by
}

=
h
h
dz z y x
h
y x ) , , (
2
1
) , (
all plane stress equations are satisfied exactly by the averaged stress, strain and
displacements variables; thereby eliminating the inconsistencies found in the
original plane stress formulation. However, this gain in rigor does not generally
contribute much to applications .
Anti-Plane Strain
An additional plane theory of elasticity called Anti-Plane Strain involves a
formulation based on the existence of only out-of-plane deformation starting
with an assumed displacement field
) , ( , 0 y x w w v u = = =
y
w
e
x
w
e
e e e e
yz xz
xy z y x
c
c
=
c
c
=
= = = =
2
1
,
2
1
0
yz yz xz xz
xy z y x
e e = t = t
= t = o = o = o
2 , 2
0
0
0
= =
= +
c
t c
+
c
t c
y x
z
yz
xz
F F
F
y x
0
2
= + V
z
F w
Strains Stresses
Equilibrium Equations
Naviers Equation
Airy Stress Function Method
Numerous solutions to plane strain and plane stress problems can be determined
using an Airy Stress Function technique. The method will reduce the general
formulation to a single governing equation in terms of a single unknown. The
resulting equation is then solvable by several methods of applied mathematics,
and thus many analytical solutions to problems of interest can be found.
This scheme is based on the general idea of developing a representation for the
stress field that will automatically satisfy equilibrium by using the relations
y x x y
xy y x
c c
| c
= t
c
| c
= o
c
| c
= o
2
2
2
2
2
, ,
where | = |(x,y) is an arbitrary form called Airys stress function. It is easily
shown that this form satisfies equilibrium (zero body force case) and
substituting it into the compatibility equations gives
0 2
4
4
4
2 2
4
4
4
= | V =
c
| c
+
c c
| c
+
c
| c
y y x x
This relation is called the biharmonic equation and its solutions are known as
biharmonic functions.
Airy Stress Function Formulation
The plane problem of elasticity can be reduced to a single equation in terms
of the Airy stress function. This function is to be determined in the two-
dimensional region R bounded by the boundary S as shown in the figure.
Appropriate boundary conditions over S are necessary to complete a
solution. Traction boundary conditions would involve the specification of
second derivatives of the stress function; however, this condition can be
reduced to specification of first order derivatives.

R
S
o
S
i
S = S
i
+ S
o
x

y

0 2
4
4
4
2 2
4
4
4
= | V =
c
| c
+
c c
| c
+
c
| c
y y x x
y x y y x xy
n
y
y x y xy x x
n
x
n
x
n
y x
n n T
n
y x
n
y
n n T
2
2 2
) (
2
2
2
) (
c
| c
+
c c
| c
= o + t =
c c
| c

c
| c
= t + o =
o
x

t
xy

o
y

Polar Coordinate Formulation
Plane Elasticity Problem
|
.
|

\
|

c
c
+
u c
c
=
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ =
c
c
=
u u
u
u
u
r
u
r
u u
r
e
u
u
r
e
r
u
e
r
r
r
r
r
1
2
1
1
0 , 2
) ( ) (
2 ) (
2 ) (
Strain Plane
= t = t = t
o + o v = + = o
+ + = o
+ + = o
u u u
u u
u u u
u
rz z r r
r r z
r
r r r
e
e e
e e e
e e e
0 ,
1
) (
1
) (
) (
1
) (
1
Stress ane Pl
= = t
v +
=
+
v
v
= o + o
v
=
vo o =
vo o =
u u u
u u
u u
u
rz z r r
r r z
r
r r
e e
E
e
e e
E
e
E
e
E
e
Strain-Displacement
Hookes Law
Polar Coordinate Formulation

0
2 1
0
) ( 1
r
r
= +
t
+
u c
o c
+
c
t c
= +
o o
+
u c
t c
+
c
o c
u
u u u
u u
F
r r r
F
r r r
r
r
r r
0
1 1
) 1 ( 2
0
1
) 1 ( 2
Stress Plane
0
1 1
) (
0
1
) (
Strain Plane
2
2
2
2
= +
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ +
c
c
u c
c
v
+ V
= +
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ +
c
c
c
c
v
+ V
= +
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ +
c
c
u c
c
+ + V
= +
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ +
c
c
c
c
+ + V
u
u
u
u
u
u
u
u
F
u
r r
u
r
u
r
E
u
F
u
r r
u
r
u
r
E
u
F
u
r r
u
r
u
r
u
F
u
r r
u
r
u
r
u
r r
r
r r
r
r r
r
r r
r
Equilibrium Equations
Compatibility Equations
Naviers Equations
2
2
2 2
2
2
1 1
u c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
= V
r r r r
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ +
c
c
v + = o + o V
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+ +
c
c
v
= o + o V
u
u
u
u
F
r r
F
r
F
F
r r
F
r
F
r r
r
r r
r
1
) 1 ( ) (
Stress Plane
1
1
1
) (
Strain Plane
2
2
Polar Coordinate Formulation
Airy Stress Function Approach | = |(r,)
|
.
|

\
|
u c
| c
c
c
= t
c
| c
= o
u c
| c
+
c
| c
= o
u
u
r r
r
r r r
r
r
1
1 1
2
2
2
2
2
0
1 1 1 1
2
2
2 2
2
2
2
2 2
2
4
= |
|
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
|
|
.
|

\
|
u c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
= | V
r r r r r r r r
R
S
x

y

u
r

-

Airy Representation
Biharmonic Governing Equation
) , ( , ) , ( u = u =
u u
r f T r f T
r r
Traction Boundary Conditions

t
ru
o
r
o
u