Convergence of equilibria of thin elastic plates under physical growth conditions for the energy density

The asymptotic behaviour of the equilibrium configurations of a thin elastic plate is studied, as the thickness $h$ of the plate goes to zero. More precisely, it is shown that critical points of the nonlinear elastic functional $\mathcal E^h$, whose energies (per unit thickness) are bounded by $Ch^4$, converge to critical points of the $\Gamma$-limit of $h^{-4}\mathcal E^h$. This is proved under the physical assumption that the energy density $W(F)$ blows up as $\det F\to0$.