A computer-algebra system is used in solving certain classical problems in the bending and vibration of elastic plates. It is shown how often difficult, tedious and error-prone analytical derivations of the types commonly encountered in the course of solving such problems can be reliably and straightforwardly carried out through the application of symbolic-manipulation algorithms, which also provide a ready means of checking available, manually derived, results such as those arising in class exercises and/or design problems amenable to closed-form expressions. Several case studies are reported, including two problems for which incorrect solutions have been presented in the literature.
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