Space-time as strongly bent plate
  Futher development is made of a consept of space-time as multidimensional elastic plate, proposed earlier in [20,21]. General equilibrium equations, including 4-dimensional tangent stress tensor - energy-momentum tensor of matter - are derived. Comparative analysis of multidimensional elasticity theory (MET) and GR is given. Variational principle, boundary conditions, energy-momentum tensor, matter and space-time signature are reviewed within the context of MET. 
Sergey Kokarev