Abstract
Experimental or model methods of analysis are becoming more popularamongst structural engineers for three basic reasons; The increased size and complexity of structures coupled with increasingly precise design specifications and performance requirements have caused a demand for more rigorous methods of analysis. Physical models can be constructed more accurately to behave in the same manner as the prototype and for this reason, considerably more data can usually be obtained from experimental investigations. Since 1955, the electronic digital computer has become an essential design tool for the structural engineer, and has profoundly affected the entire approach to structural analysis. The digital computer with its ability to perform vast quantities of computations at phenomenal speed is causing revolutionary developments to occur whenever and wherever they are being used. Numerous new materials have been introduced, particularly plastics, which can be conveniently used for model analyses. These materials which are commercially available in a wide range of forms, can be readily machined and jointed. Their mechanical properties, though not perfectly consistent, do, however, allow the analyst to simulate prototype loading and boundary conditions accurately and simply. It therefore follows that the modern Moire technique as described by Ligtenberg in conjunction with the automatic reduction of results by the electronic digital computer and with the use of Perspex for the construction of the models provides a useful method for the experimental analysis of plates in particular.