Abstract This paper describes the application of a simple speckle-shearing interferometric method for the determination of moment distribution in a clamped circular plate under a concentrated transverse load at its center. The present system consists of an image-shearing camera using a Fresnel biprism of small angle. Reduction of spurious speckle- noise and enhancement in the clarity of the fringe was achieved by using a white light source at the Fourier filtering stage. Experimental values have been compared with the existing analytical solution. Fairly close agreement between the experimental and theoretical values shows the accuracy and reliability of the method.