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This paper considers the bending of a circular plate penetrated by a rectangular array of circular holes. The approximate analysis employed for the solution to this problem requires the calculation of the elastic energy of an orthotropic rectangular element which is then compared to the energy of an idealized element of the perforated plate. A comparison of the two equivalent elastic systems yields the "effective" elastic constants for the perforated plate. These constants are then used in the orthotropic plate theory to obtain the required solution. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the techniques employed herein. These numerical results suggest the use of a simplified orthotropic plate solution using the derived "effective" elastic constants. Favorable agreement is found to exist between the experimentally measured deflections and the deflections evaluated by using the effective elastic constants developed herein.