EXACT BUCKLING AND VIBRATION SOLUTIONS FOR STEPPED RECTANGULAR PLATES

This paper is concerned with the determination of exact buckling loads and vibration frequencies of multi-stepped rectangular plates based on the classical thin (Kirchhoff) plate theory. The plate is assumed to have two opposite edges simply supported while the other two edges can take any combination of free, simply supported and clamped conditions. The proposed analytical method for solution involves the Levy method and the state-space technique. By using this analytical method, exact buckling and vibration solutions are obtained for rectangular plates having one- and two-step thickness variations. These exact solutions are extremely useful as benchmark values for researchers developing numerical techniques and software for analyzing non-uniform thickness plates.     

Sound radiation from shear deformable stiffened laminated plates

Sound radiation from shear deformable stiffened laminated plates is studied theoretically. The equations of motion for the composite laminated plate are derived on the basis of the first-order shear deformation plate theory. Two sets of parallel stiffeners interact with the laminated plate only through the normal line forces. By using the Fourier wavenumber transform and the stationary phase method, the far-field sound pressure is described analytically. Sound pressure given by the first-order shear deformation plate theory and the classical thin plate theory is compared, and the differences of sound pressure are shown in the high frequency range for an isotropic plate. Sound pressure and the transverse displacement spectra are presented to illustrate the effects of force location, stiffeners and angle-ply layers. Sound radiation from symmetric and antisymmetric composite plates with multiple loadings is also investigated.     

On the durable critic load in creep buckling of viscoelastic laminated plates and circular cylindrical shells

Based on the first order shear deformation theory and classic buckling theory, the paper investigates the creep buckling behavior of viscoelastic laminated plates and laminated circular cylindrical shells. The analysis and elaboration of both instantaneous elastic critic load and durable critic load are emphasized. The buckling load in phase domain is obtained from governing equations by applying Laplace transform, and the instantaneous elastic critic load and durable critic load are determined according to the extreme value theorem for inverse Laplace transform. It is shown that viscoelastic approach and quasi-elastic approach yield identical solutions for these two types of critic load respectively. A transverse disturbance model is developed to give the same mechanics significance of durable critic load as that of elastic critic load. Two types of critic loads of boron/epoxy composite laminated plates and circular cylindrical shells are discussed in detail individually, and the influencing factors to induce creep buckling are revealed by examining the viscoelasticity incorporated in transverse shear deformation and in-plane flexibility.     

Reliability assessment of different plate theories for elastic wave propagation analysis in functionally graded plates

The importance of elastic wave propagation problem in plates arises from the application of ultrasonic elastic waves in non-destructive evaluation of plate-like structures. However, precise study and analysis of acoustic guided waves especially in non-homogeneous waveguides such as functionally graded plates are so complicated that exact elastodynamic methods are rarely employed in practical applications. Thus, the simple approximate plate theories have attracted much interest for the calculation of wave fields in FGM plates. Therefore, in the current research, the classical plate theory (CPT), first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) are used to obtain the transient responses of flexural waves in FGM plates subjected to transverse impulsive loadings. Moreover, comparing the results with those based on a well recognized hybrid numerical method (HNM), we examine the accuracy of the plate theories for several plates of various thicknesses under excitations of different frequencies. The material properties of the plate are assumed to vary across the plate thickness according to a simple power-law distribution in terms of volume fractions of constituents. In all analyses, spatial Fourier transform together with modal analysis are applied to compute displacement responses of the plates. A comparison of the results demonstrates the reliability ranges of the approximate plate theories for elastic wave propagation analysis in FGM plates. Furthermore, based on various examples, it is shown that whenever the plate theories are used within the appropriate ranges of plate thickness and frequency content, solution process in wave number-time domain based on modal analysis approach is not only sufficient but also efficient for finding the transient waveforms in FGM plates.     

A New Higher Order Shear Deformation Model for Static Behavior of Functionally Graded Plates

In this paper, a new displacement based high-order shear deformation theory is introduced for the static response of functionally graded plate. Unlike any other theory, the number of unknown functions involved is only four, as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. The theory presented is variationally consistent, has strong similarity with classical plate theory in many aspects, does not require shear correction factor, and gives rise to transverse shear stress variation such that the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness satisfying shear stress free surface conditions. The mechanical properties of the plate are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Numerical illustrations concerned flexural behavior of FG plates with Metal-Ceramic composition. Parametric studies are performed for varying ceramic volume fraction, volume fraction profiles, aspect ratios and length to thickness ratios. The validity of the present theory is investigated by comparing some of the present results with those of the classical, the first-order and the other higher-order theories. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the static behavior of functionally graded plates.     

Shear deformable versus classical theories for nonlinear vibrations of rectangular isotropic and laminated composite plates

In the present study, (i) the classical Von Kárman theory, (ii) the first-order shear deformation theory and (iii) the higher-order (third-order) shear deformation theory are compared for studying the nonlinear forced vibrations of isotropic and laminate composite rectangular plates. In particular, the harmonic response in the frequency neighborhood of the fundamental mode of rectangular plates is investigated and the response curves computed by using the three different theories are compared. The boundary conditions of the plates are simply supported with immovable edges. Geometric imperfections are taken into account. Calculations for isotropic and laminated composite plates are presented and results are discussed. For isotropic plates, the frequency-response curves for large-amplitude vibrations obtained by using the three theories are almost coincident. For laminated composite plates, differences arise for relatively thick plates (ratio between the thickness and the edge equal to 0.1), while for thin plates (ratio between the thickness and the edge equal to 0.01), no difference is obtained. For all cases, the first-order shear deformation (with shear correction factor ) and the higher-order shear deformation theories give practically coincident results and differences are observed with respect to the classical Von Kárman theory.     

The buckling and frequency of flexural vibration of rectangular isotropic and orthotropic plates using Rayleigh's method

A simple approximate formula for the natural frequencies of flexural vibration of isotropic plates, originally developed by Warburton using characteristic beam functions in Rayleigh's method, is modified to apply to specially orthotropic plates and extended to include the effect of uniform, direct inplane forces. The initial buckling problem is treated simply by equating the frequency expression to zero. The approach permits the ready determination of reasonably accurate natural frequencies and/or buckling loads for a given plate involving any combination of free, simply supported or clamped edges, without requiring the aid of a sophisticated calculating device or a knowledge of plate, vibration or buckling theory. To illustrate the applicability and accuracy of the approach, numerical results for a number of specific plate problems are presented.     

Forced axisymmetric response of circular plates

Forced axisymmetric response of circular plates is considered on the basis of an improved theory which takes into account the effect of rotatory inertia and shear deformation. Explicit solutions are obtained for distributed, ring and concentrated impulsive loadings with half-sine, triangular, blast and rectangular pulse shapes. Natural frequencies are presented for the first 20 modes of four plate models with clamped and supported edges. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the differences between the improved and classical theories, and the effects of edge conditions, loading conditions, pulse shapes and pulse durations.     

Vibrations of annular plates including the effects of rotatory inertia and transverse shear deformation

An investigation of the natural vibrations of isotropic annular plates of uniform thickness has been made by considering the effects of rotatory inertia and shear deformation. The frequency determinantal equations are derived in explicit form for nine sets of common boundary conditions. Numerical results for the frequency parameters of annular plates having various thickness ratios and inner to outer radii ratios have been obtained. The results are compared with those given by the classical plate theory wherever possible. Among the effects of transverse shear deformation and rotatory inertia, the effect of shear deformation has been found to be more prominent.     

Accurate free vibration analysis of thick laminated circular plates with attached rigid core

This paper deals with the free vibration behavior of laminated transversely isotropic circular plates with axisymmetric rigid core attached at the center. The governing equations of motion are obtained based on Mindlin's first-order shear deformation plate theory. Two possible categories of vibration modes related to up-down translation of the core and wobbly rotation of the core about a diameter are studied. Accurate natural frequencies hitherto not reported in the literature are presented for a wide range of thickness-to-radius ratio, inner-to-outer radius ratio, mass and moment of inertia ratios of the core and various boundary conditions at the outer edge of the plate. Numerical results are compared with those of a three-dimensional finite element method (3-D FEM) to demonstrate the high accuracy and reliability of the current analysis.     

Buckling of single layer graphene sheet based on nonlocal elasticity and higher order shear deformation theory

Higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) is reformulated using the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen. The equations of motion of the nonlocal theories are derived. The developed equations of motion have been applied to study buckling characteristics of nanoplates such as graphene sheets. Navier's approach has been used to solve the governing equations for all edges simply supported boundary conditions. Analytical solutions for critical buckling loads of the graphene sheets are presented. Nonlocal elasticity theories are employed to bring out the small scale effect on the critical buckling load of graphene sheets. Effects of (i) nonlocal parameter, (ii) length, (iii) thickness of the graphene sheets and (iv) higher order shear deformation theory on the critical buckling load have been investigated. The theoretical development as well as numerical solutions presented herein should serve as reference for nonlocal theories as applied to the stability analysis of nanoplates and nanoshells.     

Geometrically nonlinear free vibration of shear deformable piezoelectric carbon nanotube/fiber/polymer multiscale laminated composite plates

The nonlinear free vibration of carbon nanotubes/fiber/polymer composite (CNTFPC) multi-scale plates with surface-bonded piezoelectric actuators is studied in this paper. The governing equations of the piezoelectric nanotubes/fiber/polymer multiscale laminated composite plates are derived based on first-order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT) and von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity. Halpin–Tsai equations and fiber micromechanics are used in hierarchy to predict the bulk material properties of the multiscale composite. The carbon nanotubes are assumed to be uniformly distributed and randomly oriented through the epoxy resin matrix. A perturbation scheme of multiple time scales is employed to determine the nonlinear vibration response and the nonlinear natural frequencies of the plates with immovable simply supported boundary conditions. The effects of the applied constant voltage, plate geometry, volume fraction of fibers and weight percentage of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the linear and nonlinear natural frequencies of the piezoelectric nanotubes/fiber/polymer multiscale composite plate are investigated through a detailed parametric study.     

Dynamic responses of Reissner–Mindlin plates with free edges resting on tensionless elastic foundations

Dynamic response analysis is presented for a Reissner–Mindlin plate with four free edges resting on a tensionless elastic foundation of the Winkler-type and Pasternak-type. The mechanical loads consist of transverse partially distributed impulsive loads and in-plane static edge loads while the temperature field is assumed to exhibit a linear variation through the thickness of the plate. The material properties are assumed to be independent of temperature. The two cases of initially compressed plates and of initially heated plates are considered. The formulations are based on Reissner–Mindlin first-order shear deformation plate theory and include the plate–foundation interaction and thermal effects. A set of admissible functions is developed for the dynamic response analysis of moderately thick plates with four free edges. The Galerkin method, the Gauss–Legendre quadrature procedure and the Runge–Kutta technique are employed in conjunction with this set of admissible functions to determine the deflection-time and bending moment–time curves, as well as shape mode curves. An iterative scheme is developed to obtain numerical results without using any assumption on the shape of the contact region. The numerical illustrations concern moderately thick plates with four free edges resting on tensionless elastic foundations of the Winkler-type and Pasternak-type, from which results for conventional elastic foundations are obtained as comparators. The results confirm that the plate will have stronger dynamic behavior than its counterpart when it is supported by a tensionless elastic foundation.     

Natural vibration of rectangular plates with an internal line hinge using the first order shear deformation plate theory

This paper presents exact solutions for vibration of rectangular plates with an internal line hinge. The rectangular plate is simply supported on two parallel edges and the remaining two edges may take any combination of support conditions. The line hinge is perpendicular to the two simply supported parallel edges. The Lévy type solution method and the state-space technique are employed in connection with the first order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT) to study natural vibration of rectangular plates with an internal line hinge. In particular, exact vibration frequencies are obtained for rectangular plates of different aspect ratios and edge support conditions. The influence of the internal line hinge on the vibration behavior of rectangular plates is studied.     

Nonlocal elasticity theory for thermal buckling of nanoplates lying on Winkler–Pasternak elastic substrate medium

In the present work, thermal buckling of single-layered graphene sheets lying on an elastic medium is analyzed. For this purpose, the sinusoidal shear deformation plate theory in tandem with the nonlocal continuum theory, which takes the small scale effects into account, is employed. The non-linear stability equations, which contain the reaction of Winkler–Pasternak elastic substrate medium, are derived and then solved analytically for a plate with various boundary conditions and based on various plate theories. Closed form solutions are formulated for three types of thermal loadings as uniform, linear and nonlinear temperature rise through the thickness of the plate. A number of examples are presented to illustrate the numerical results concerned with the buckling temperature response of nanoplates resting on two-parameter elastic foundations. The influences played by transversal shear deformation, plate aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio, nonlocal parameter, and elastic foundation parameters are all investigated.     

Free vibration of antisymmetric,angle-ply laminated plates including transverse shear deformation by the finite element method

A finite element formulation of the equations governing the laminated anisotropic plate theory of Yang, Norris and Stavsky, is presented. The theory is a generalization of Mindlin's theory for isotropic plates to laminated anisotropic plates and includes shear deformation and rotary inertia effects. Finite element solutions are presented for rectangular plates of antisymmetric angle-ply laminates whose material properties are typical of a highly anisotropic composite material. Two sets of material properties that are typical of high modulus fiber-reinforced composites are used to show the parametric effects of plate aspect ratio, length-to-thickness ratio, number of layers and lamination angle. The numerical results are compared with the closed form results of Bert and Chen. As a special case, numerical results are presented for thick isotropic plates, and are compared with those for 3-D linear elasticity theory and Mindlin's thick plate theory.     

Localized bending waves in a transversely isotropic plate

The problem of bending waves localized near the free edge of a transversely isotropic plate is investigated using the Ambartsumian higher-order plate theory which takes account of the transverse shears generated by flexural deformation. Unlike the first-order Reissner-Mindlin theory, which also takes account of transverse shears, Ambartsumian's analysis does not demand that plane normal cross-sections remain plane during bending. Within this analysis the existence of localized bending waves in transversely isotropic plates is established, and solutions of the dispersion equation obtained for different values of the elastic parameters.The analysis of frequencies of localized bending waves shows that for thick plates the effect of anisotropy can be considerable. For the particular case of vibrations of a narrow plate, from the long wave approximation a new beam vibration equation of the Timoshenko type is obtained for a transversally isotropic plate.     

VIBRATION CHARACTERISTICS AND TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF SHEAR-DEFORMABLE FUNCTIONALLY GRADED PLATES IN THERMAL ENVIRONMENTS

Free and forced vibration analyses for initially stressed functionally graded plates in thermal environment are presented. Material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent, and graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Theoretical formulations are based on Reddy's higher order shear deformation plate theory and include the thermal effects due to uniform temperature variation. The plate is assumed to be clamped on two opposite edges with the remaining two others either free, simply supported or clamped. One-dimensional differential quadrature technique, Galerkin approach, and the modal superposition method are used to determine the transient response of the plate subjected to lateral dynamic loads. Comprehensive numerical results for silicon nitride/stainless-steel rectangular plates are presented in dimensionless tabular and graphical forms. The roles played by the constituent volume fraction index, temperature rise, shape and duration of dynamic loads, initial membrane stresses as well as the character of boundary conditions are studied. The results reveal that, when thermal effects are considered, functionally graded plates with material properties intermediate to those of isotropic ones do not necessarily have intermediate natural frequencies and dynamic responses.     

Natural frequencies of orthotropic, monoclinic and hexagonal plates by a meshless method

The collocation method with multiquadrics basis functions and a first-order shear deformation theory are used to find natural flexural frequencies of a square plate with various material symmetries and subjected to different boundary conditions. Computed results are found to agree well with the literature values obtained by the solution of the three-dimensional elasticity equations using the finite element method.     

Thermomechanical bending and free vibration of single-layered graphene sheets embedded in an elastic medium

In the present paper, the sinusoidal shear deformation plate theory (SDPT) is reformulated using the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen to analyze the bending and vibration of the nanoplates, such as single-layered graphene sheets, resting on two-parameter elastic foundations. The present SDPT is compared with other plate theories. The nanoplates are assumed to be subjected to mechanical and thermal loads. The equations of motion of the nonlocal model are derived including the plate foundation interaction and thermal effects. The governing equations are solved analytically for various boundary conditions. Nonlocal theory is employed to bring out the effect of the nonlocal parameter on the bending and natural frequencies of the nanoplates. The influences of nonlocal parameter, side-to-thickness ratio and elastic foundation moduli on the displacements and vibration frequencies are investigated.