Rigid Plate Deflection at D  
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The figure shows a rigid triangular plate B C D which is pinned at C, supported at B by a horizontal rod of length 1200 millimeters and supported at D by a vertical post of height 600 millimeters. The clearance between the post and the plate is 1.5 millimeters. The post is fixed to the ground at E and the rod is fixed to a wall at A. The plate has dimensions 600 millimeters along C D and 480 millimeters along B C. A load P directed vertically downwards acts on the plate and this causes the plate to rotate about C and makes contact with the post at D.

The rigid plate continues rotating until equilibrium is reached.

The additional rigid plate rotation continues to stretch member (1).

After contacting the post, the rigid plate now causes post (2) to get shorter.

After the equilibrium position is reached, the strain in the post is measured as –1,800 με.