On Material Conservation Laws for a Consistent Plate Theory

In the paper, material conservation laws associated with a consistent second-order plate theory are derived, which takes shear deformations and strains in thickness direction of the plate into account. Three path-independent integrals are established. In the presence of inhomogeneities in the material (e.g., defects or cracks), energy-release rates due to the change of the configuration of such flaws can be calculated by these integrals. The resulting material forces may serve to assess the reliability of structures with cracks.