Mechanical Safety Subcommittee Guideline for Design of Thin Windows Regarding Roark’s Edge Condition Coefficient

An error was found in an edge stress coefficient used to calculate stresses in thin windows. This error is present in “Roark’s Formulas for Stress and Strain” 7th and 8th Edition. The 6th Edition is correct. This guideline specially discusses a major difference in regards to a coefficient used in calculating the edge stress in “Roark’s Formulas for Stress and Strain” 6th Edition compared to the 7th and 8th Editions. In Chapter 10: Flat Plates under “Circular plates under distributed load producing large deflections,” Case 3, which is “Fixed and held. Uniform pressure q over entire plate.” The coefficient for a fixed edge condition in the 6th Edition1 K4 = 0.476 while in the 7th and 8th Edition2, the coefficient is 1.73 which is significant difference.