Abstract: A kinematic admissible strain field for a simply supported circular plate under a uniformly distributed load is proposed, the plastic limit analysis is first carried out with an EA (equal area) yield criterion and an analytical solution is first obtained. The solution shows that the limit load is a function of a circular plate with radius of a, the circular plate thickness of h and yield stress. The limit load calculated by the solution is compared with those based on Tresca, TSS and Mises yield criteria. The result shows that Tresca criterion predicts a lower bound to the limit load, while TSS criterion predicts an upper bound one. The limit load based on the EA and Mises criteria lies just between the TSS and Tresca solutions; most notably, the EA solution almost has the same calculating precision with Mises solution. Besides, the relationship between deflection and relative position is also discussed.