A Rayleigh-Ritz Determination of Upper and Lower Bounds for the Deflection of Orthotropic Cantilever Beams,

A numerical scheme based on polynomial approximation is presented for the calculation of upper and lower bounds for the flexibility coefficient of end-loaded orthotropic cantilever beams in a state of plane stress, through use of the principles of minimum potential energy and of minimum complementary energy. The degree-of-freedom of the two-dimensional polynomials employed along with the elastic constants and the depth-to-span ratio of the beam are external parameters of the problem. Author