Four-parameter functionally graded cracked plates of arbitrary shape: A GDQFEM solution for free vibrations

The dynamic behavior of moderately thick FGM plates with geometric discontinuities and arbitrarily curved boundaries is investigated. The Generalized Differential Quadrature Finite Element Method (GDQFEM) is proposed as a numerical approach. The irregular physical domain in Cartesian coordinates is transformed into a regular domain in natural coordinates. Several types of cracked FGM plates are investigated. It appears that GDQFEM is analogous to the well-known Finite Element Method (FEM). With reference to the proposed technique the governing FSDT equations are solved in their strong form and the connections between the elements are imposed with the inter-element compatibility conditions. The results show excellent agreement with other numerical solutions obtained by FEM.