Exponential decay estimates for solutions of the von kármán equations on a semi-infinite strip

This paper is concerned with the analysis of Saint-Venant edge effects for nonlinear elastic plates. The model used is based on the von Kármán plate equations: a coupled system of two nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations with the biharmonic operator as the principal part. Energy methods are used to establish a nonlinear integro-differential inequality for a quadratic functional. Arguments based on comparison theorems are then used to establish exponential decay of end effects.