SUMMARY The need. to generalise the usual assumptions made in the analysis of load diffusion problems has been emphasised by recent experimental work (Ref. 3)1 which has shown the importance of bending of the edge members. Direct mathematical solution of the plate problems, which arise, is hardly feasible and so in this report a numerical solution using the 'relaxation method' is carried out. Results show the method to be suitable for design purposes/ but comparison with experiment still shows the need for further physical generalisations. These will form the subject of future work.