Experiments with an Electrical Analogue for the Extension and Flexure of Flat Plates

Abstract

Summary Details of the design, construction and use of an electrical resistance network for solving certain of the problems encountered in the flexure and extension of flat plates are given. Some typical experiments have been carried out with the aid of this network and the method of operation of the analogy is described. The results of these experiments are presented and they are compared with the corresponding theoretical values. The comparison is as good as could be expected in view of the limitations imposed by the very coarse mesh which was used; essentially the same results would have been obtained by the exercise of a relaxation computation, using the same size of net. No practical difficulties would be encountered in building a large network having a very fine mesh.