Influence of the ambient pressure on thin plate and film bending

The distributed lateral load on a plate located in a gas medium has been determined. The difference in the gas pressures of the plate surfaces results in a pressure drop and a lateral force, which depends on the middle surface curvature. It is shown that both these components of the lateral force must be taken into account in the general case. The influence of the second load component is small at a small ratio of the average pressure to the elastic modulus of the plate material and at a large relative thickness of the plate. At a small relative plate thickness and a large ratio of the average pressure of the medium to the elastic modulus of the plate material, the influence of the second component of the lateral load on the bending becomes significant. Cases of both linear and nonlinear plate bending are considered.