Vibration of composite plates with internal supports

The free vibration of rectangular laminated composite plates with arbitrary support conditions along the edges, internal line supports and discrete point supports are studied using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Polynomial approximation functions are selected to satisfy all essential boundary conditions along the edges of the plate and to vanish along line supports parallel to the co-ordinate axes. Straight line supports at an angle from the co-ordinate axes and curved line supports are modeled by introducing several point supports along the line. Zero displacement constraints at the point support locations are enforced using the Lagrange multiplier technique. The plate constitutive equations are expressed in terms of stiffness invariants and the fundamental natural frequency is maximized by selecting the appropriate lay-up. Several examples are presented to illustrate the versatility of the approach and provide results not previously available. The influence of the number of plies in the laminate, lay-up, material properties and plate aspect ratios are investigated.     

A DXDR large deflection analysis of uniformly loaded square, circular and elliptical orthotropic plates using non-uniform rectangular finite-differences

A finite-difference analysis of the large deflection response of uniformly loaded square, circular and elliptical clamped and simply-supported orthotropic plates is presented. Several types of non-uniform (graded) mesh are investigated and a mesh suited to the curved boundary of the orthotropic circular and elliptical plate is identified. The DXDR method-a variant of the DR (dynamic relaxation) method-is used to solve the finite-difference forms of the governing orthotropic plate equations. The DXDR method and irregular rectilinear mesh are combined along with the Cartesian coordinates to treat all types of boundaries and to analyze the large deformation of non-isotropic circular/elliptical plates. The results obtained from plate analyses demonstrate the potential of the non-uniform meshes employed and it is shown that they are in good agreement with other results for square, circular and elliptical isotropic and orthotropic clamped and simply-supported plates in both fixed and movable cases subjected to transverse pressure loading.     

A note on elliptical plate vibration modes as a bifurcation from circular plate modes

The exact modes of vibration of a circular plate satisfy the geometrical boundary conditions of uniform elliptical plates in modified polar coordinates. In a previous investigation the exact modes of a clamped circular plate were used as shape functions in the Rayleigh-Ritz method to characterize the vibration of clamped elliptical plates. The mass and stiffness matrices were expressed in closed form and the resulting eigen value problems for the four mode categories of the elliptical plates were solved numerically. In the present investigation the computed variations of the plate frequencies with aspect ratio are used to study the similarities between the elliptical and circular plate modes. It is concluded that as the aspect ratio increases from unity, the axisymmetrical circular plate mode varies as a single elliptical plate mode, whereas the non-axisymmetrical circular plate mode splits up into two distinct elliptical plate modes.     

弹性边界条件下圆板横向自由振动特性分析

采用谱几何法(spectro-geometric method,简称SGM)分析了弹性边界条件下圆板横向自由振动特性。首先,将圆板的振动位移容许函数描述为一种谱形式的改进三角级数,并采用沿边界均匀分布的约束弹簧来模拟弹性边界条件;然后,将未知级数展开系数看作广义变量,应用瑞利-里兹法从能量的角度推导弹性边界条件下圆板结构横向自由振动系统特征矩阵方程;最后,设计搭建了相关实验台架,对圆板结构横向自由振动模态参数进行测试。将文中方法计算结果与文献解、有限元计算结果和实验结果进行对比,验证了谱几何法求解圆板横向自由振动问题的正确性和计算精度。     

Transverse vibration of a quarter of an elliptic plate with variable thickness

Rayleigh-Ritz method has been used to find the first three frequencies and mode shapes for free flexural vibration of a plate in the form of a quadrant of an ellipse with linear and quadratic thickness variations. The results for a quarter of a circular plate with uniform thickness have been obtained as a special case and comparison has been made with results already available. By taking various combinations of clamped, simply-supported and completely-free edges we get twenty-seven different cases. Tables are given for the first three frequencies for different values of parameters. Mode shapes have also been plotted in some cases. The convergence of results is indicated by working out approximations of various orders.     

Vibration of clamped elliptical plates using exact circular plate modes as shape functions in Rayleigh-Ritz method

The vibration of clamped uniform elliptical plates is investigated using the exact modes of circular plates as shape functions in the Rayleigh-Ritz method. This paper investigates the behaviour of clamped elliptical plates using modified polar coordinates and the exact modes of circular plates in terms of Bessel and modified Bessel functions. The elements of the mass and stiffness matrices are expressed in closed form using Lommel integrals. The accuracy and the convergence of this approach are validated, and numerical results for natural frequencies for various plate aspect ratios are presented.     

Vibration of circular plate with multiple eccentric circular perforations by the Rayleigh-Ritz method

The free vibration of a circular plate with multiple perforations is analyzed by using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Admissible functions are assumed to be separable functions of radial and tangential coordinates. Trigonometric functions are assumed in the circumferential direction. The radial shape functions are the boundary characteristic orthogonal polynomials generated following the Gram-Schmidt recurrence scheme. The assumed functions are used to estimate the kinetic and the potential energies of the plate depending on the number and the position of the perforations. The eigenvalues, representing the dimensionless natural frequencies, are compared with the results obtained using Bessel functions, where the exact solution is available. Moreover, the eigenvectors, which are the unknown coefficients of the Rayleigh-Ritz method, are used to present the mode shapes of the plate. To validate the analytical results of the plates with multiple perforations, experimental investigations are also performed. Two unique case studies that are not addressed in the existing literature are considered. The results of the Rayleigh-Ritz method are found to be in good agreement with those from the experiments. Although the method presented can be employed in the vibration analysis of plates with different boundary conditions and shapes of the perforations, circular perforations that are free on the edges are studied in this paper. The results are presented in terms of dimensionless frequencies and mode shapes.     

Analysis of annular Reissner/Mindlin plates using differential quadrature method

The axisymmetric flexure responses of moderately thick annular plates under static loading are investigated. The shear deformation is considered using the first-order Reissner/Mindlin plate theory and the solutions are obtained using the differential quadrature (DQ) method. In the solution process, the governing differential equations and boundary conditions for the problem are initially discretized by the DQ algorithm into a set of linear algebraic equations. The solutions of the problem are then determined by solving the set of algebraic equations. This study considers the plate subjected to various combinations of clamped, simply-supported, free and guided boundary conditions and different loading manners. The accuracy of the method is demonstrated through direct comparison of the present results with the corresponding exact solutions available in the literature.     

A novel approach for in-plane/out-of-plane frequency analysis of functionally graded circular/annular plates

An exact closed-form frequency equation is presented for free vibration analysis of circular and annular moderately thick FG plates based on the Mindlin's first-order shear deformation plate theory. The edges of plate may be restrained by different combinations of free, soft simply supported, hard simply supported or clamped boundary conditions. The material properties change continuously through the thickness of the plate, which can vary according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents, whereas Poisson's ratio is set to be constant. The equilibrium equations which govern the dynamic stability of plate and its natural boundary conditions are derived by the Hamilton's principle. Several comparison studies with analytical and numerical techniques reported in literature and the finite element analysis are carried out to establish the high accuracy and superiority of the presented method. Also, these comparisons prove the numerical accuracy of solutions to calculate the in-plane and out-of-plane modes. The influences of the material property, graded index, thickness to outer radius ratios and boundary conditions on the in-plane and out-of-plane frequency parameters are also studied for different functionally graded circular and annular plates.     

Buckling of symmetrically laminated rectangular plates under parabolic edge compressions

Buckling analysis of symmetrically laminated rectangular plates with parabolic distributed in-plane compressive loadings along two opposite edges is performed using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Classical laminated plate theory is adopted. Stress functions satisfying all stress boundary conditions are constructed based on the Chebyshev polynomials. Displacement functions for buckling analysis are constructed by Chebyshev polynomials multiplying with functions that satisfy either simply supported or clamped boundary condition along four edges. Methodology and procedures are worked out in detail. Buckling loads for symmetrically laminated plates with four combinations of boundary conditions are obtained. The proposed method is verified by comparing results to data obtained by the differential quadrature method (DQM) and the finite element method (FEM). Numerical example also shows that the double sine series displacement for simply supported symmetrically laminated plates having bending-twisting coupling may overestimate the stiffness, thus providing higher buckling loads.     

带硬涂层圆盘构件的固有振动特性的精确解法

研究了在广义弹性简支边界条件下的具有硬涂层的圆盘构件的自由振动的量纲一固有频率的精确解.首先利用多铁性多层圆盘的解析分析的多层板弹性理论,导出带硬涂层的圆盘结构的状态方程,其中以位移、电势、磁势、应力、电位移和磁感应强度为状态变量.利用有限Hankel变换和传播矩阵法,得到考虑压电和压磁效应的带硬涂层的圆盘的量纲一固有频率的精确解.根据算例结果,比较了压电、压磁两类硬涂层材料在单面涂层、双面涂层和不同涂层厚度的结构配置下的固有频率变化规律.     

Vibration of circular Mindlin plates with concentric elastic ring supports

This paper studies the vibration behaviour of circular Mindlin plates with multiple concentric elastic ring supports. Utilizing the domain decomposition technique, a circular plate is divided into several annular segments and one core circular segment at the locations of the elastic ring supports. The governing differential equations and the solutions of these equations are presented for the annular and circular segments based on the Mindlin-plate theory. A homogenous equation system that governs the vibration of circular Mindlin plates with elastic ring supports is derived by imposing the essential and natural boundary and segment interface conditions. The first-known exact vibration frequencies for circular Mindlin plates with multiple concentric elastic ring supports are obtained and the modal shapes of displacement fields and stress resultants for several selected cases are presented. The influence of the elastic ring support stiffness, locations, plate boundary conditions and plate thickness ratios on the vibration behaviour of circular plates is discussed.     

Forced axisymmetric response of linearly tapered circular plates

Forced axisymmetric response of a circular plate of linearly varying thickness, based on the classical theory, is analyzed by the eigen-function method. An exact solution for the free vibration mode shapes is obtained by the Frobenius method. Clamped and simply-supported plates subjected to symmetric uniformly distributed and concentrated impulsive ring and point loads are solved as example problems. Numerical results computed for transverse deflection and radial stress are plotted in the figures.     

Natural frequencies of symmetrically laminated elliptical and circular plates

Elliptical and circular fibre reinforced composite plates are important structural elements in modern engineering structures. Vibration analysis of these elements are of interest to structural designers. The present paper deals with the free transverse vibration analysis of symmetrically laminated solid and annular elliptic and circular plates with several complicating effects.The approach developed is based on the Rayleigh–Ritz method where the deflection of the plate is approximated by a general shape function of polynomial type.The analysis includes several complicating effects, such as the presence of an internal hole, an internal ring support, several concentrated masses and the boundary elastically restrained against rotation and translation.Several examples are solved and some results which correspond to particular cases are compared with existing values in the literature. New results are also presented for cross-ply and angle-ply elliptical and circular laminates with different boundary conditions.The algorithm developed can be applied to a wide range of elastic restraint conditions, to any aspect ratio and to higher modes. The effect of the restraint parameters along the boundary on the natural frequencies for plates with these complicating effects is considered.     

Free vibration analysis of isotropic and orthotropic triangular plates

A highly accurate and computationally efficient numerical method is developed for the flexural vibration of isotropic and orthotropic triangular plates. A set of two-dimensional orthogonal plate functions is used as an admissible displacement function in the Rayleigh-Ritz method to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes for the plates. From a prescribed starting function satisfying the boundary conditions, the higher terms in the orthogonal plate functions are constructed using the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process. Natural frequencies and mode shapes are obtained for three triangular plates with different support conditions. The obtained numerical results are presented, and the isotropic case is verified with other numerical methods in the literature.     

Effect of aspect ratio on large amplitude free vibrations of simply supported and clamped rectangular Mindlin plates using coupled displacement field method

We propose a novel method, known as Coupled displacement field (CDF) method, an alternative to study large amplitude free vibration behavior of moderately thick rectangular plates. An admissible trial function was assumed for one of the variables, say, the total rotations (in both X, Y directions). The function for lateral displacement field is derived in terms of the total rotations with the help of coupling equations, where the two independent variables become dependent on one another. This method makes use of the energy formulation, where it contains only half the number of undetermined coefficients when compared with conventional Rayleigh-Ritz method. The vibration problem is simplified significantly due to the reduction in number of undetermined coefficients. The frequency-amplitude relationship for the moderately thick rectangular plates with various aspect ratios for all edges simply supported and clamped boundary conditions was obtained. Closed form expressions for linear and nonlinear fundamental frequency parameters were derived.     

Free vibration of isosceles triangular mindlin plates

The free flexural vibration of thick isosceles triangular plates based on the Mindlin shear deformation theory is investigated. The pb-2 Rayleigh-Ritz method, proposed earlier by the authors, is employed for solution. New sets of vibration frequency parameters for isosceles triangular Mindlin plates with various apex angles, thickness-to-width ratios and different combinations of free, simply supported and clamped edges are presented. These results are valuable to designers and may serve as the benchmark values for future numerical techniques and software packages in thick plate analyses. Since no results are available to date for such thick triangular plates, comparisons of results can only be made in the special case of small thickness-to-width ratios with existing thin plate results. In all cases, they are found to be in very close agreement. The influences of shear deformation and rotatory inertia on the frequency parameters are examined.     

Free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with internal columns and uniform elastic edge supports by pb-2 Ritz method

Free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with internal columns and elastic edge supports is presented using the powerful pb-2 Ritz method. Reddy's third order shear deformation plate theory is employed. The versatile pb-2 Ritz functions defined by the product of a two-dimensional polynomial and a basic function are taken as the admissible functions. Substituting these displacement functions into the energy functional and minimizing the total energy by differentiation, leads to a typical eigenvalue problem, which is solved by a standard eigenvalue solver. Stiffness and mass matrices are numerically integrated over the plate using the Gaussian quadrature. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated through several numerical examples by comparison and convergency studies. Many numerical results for reasonable natural frequency parameters of rectangular plates with different combinations of elastic boundary conditions and column supports at any locations are presented, which can be used as a benchmark for future studies in this area.     

3-D vibration analysis of skew thick plates using Chebyshev–Ritz method

The free vibration characteristics of skew thick plates with arbitrary boundary conditions have been studied based on the three-dimensional, linear and small strain elasticity theory. The actual skew plate domain is mapped onto a basic cubic domain and the eigenvalue equation is then derived from the energy functional of the plate by using the Ritz method. A set of triplicate Chebyshev polynomial series multiplied by a boundary function chosen to satisfy the essential geometric boundary conditions of the plate is developed as the trial functions of the displacement components. The vibration modes are divided into antisymmetric and symmetric ones in the thickness direction and can be studied individually. The convergence and comparison studies show that rather accurate results can be obtained by using this approach. Parametric investigations on rhombic plates with fully clamped edges and completely free edges are performed in detail, with respect to the thickness-span ratio and skew angle. Some results known for the first time are reported, which may serve as the benchmark values for future numerical technique research.     

Transverse vibration of a circular plate with arbitrary thickness variation

Rayleigh-Ritz method has been employed to obtain approximations to frequencies and mode shapes of circular plates with variable thickness. The boundary is either clamped, simply supported or completely free. The main distinguishing feature of the present investigations is that the thickness approximation is done by measuring thickness at a suitable set of sample points and then using interpolation to get the approximating polynomial. Thus, unlike other methods already available in literature where either linear or quadratic variation of thickness has been examined, here one can have a polynomial of arbitrary degree depending upon the number and locations of the sample points. The results have been tabulated in a large number of cases and three-dimensional mode shapes have been plotted for some selected cases. Comparison has been made with available results. A short tables are also given to depict the rate of convergence with the order of approximation.