Thickness-variation analog for nonhomogeneous plane-elasticity problems

This investigation was undertaken to show that the experimental study of the stress distribution in plane nonhomogeneous bodies may be accomplished by using models of varying thickness. Fabrication of models makes the experimental analysis of heterogeneous plane bodies difficult. Equations of elasticity are given which show that models with thickness variation should give the same results as those with a comparable variation in Young's modulus. Experimental results are given for the thickness-variation analog of the classical inclusion problem of varying modulus. These results are compared with the known theoretical results of the classical problem.