Nonlinear free vibration behavior of functionally graded plates

In this paper, an analytical solution is provided for the nonlinear free vibration behavior of plates made of functionally graded materials. The material properties of the functionally graded plates are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness, according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The fundamental equations for thin rectangular plates of functionally graded materials are obtained using the von Karman theory for large transverse deflection, and the solution is obtained in terms of mixed Fourier series. The effect of material properties, boundary conditions and thermal loading on the dynamic behavior of the plates is determined and discussed. The results reveal that nonlinear coupling effects play a major role in dictating the fundamental frequency of functionally graded plates.     

Free Vibration Analysis of Nanocomposite Plates Reinforced by Graded Carbon Nanotubes Based on First-Order Shear Deformation Plate Theory

Based on the Mindlin's first-order shear deformation plate theory this paper focuses on the free vibration behavior of functionally graded nanocomposite plates reinforced by aligned and straight single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The material properties of simply supported functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced (FGCNTR) plates are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction. The effective material properties at a point are estimated by either the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach or the extended rule of mixture. Two types of symmetric carbon nanotubes (CNTs) volume fraction profiles are presented in this paper. The equations of motion and related boundary conditions are derived using the Hamilton's principle. A semi-analytical solution composed of generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method, as an efficient and accurate numerical method, and series solution is adopted to solve the equations of motions. The primary contribution of the present work is to provide a comparative study of the natural frequencies obtained by extended rule of mixture and Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka method. The detailed parametric studies are carried out to study the influences various types of the CNTs volume fraction profiles, geometrical parameters and CNTs volume fraction on the free vibration characteristics of FGCNTR plates. The results reveal that the prediction methods of effective material properties have an insignificant influence of the variation of the frequency parameters with the plate aspect ratio and the CNTs volume fraction.     

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.     

Vibration of electro-elastic versus magneto-elastic circular/annular plates using the Chebyshev–Ritz method

The aim of this paper is to analyze three-dimensional free vibration of magneto-elastic/electro-elastic circular/annular plates with different boundary conditions using the Chebyshev–Ritz method, in which a set of duplicate Chebyshev polynomial series multiplied by the boundary function satisfying the boundary conditions are chosen as the trial functions of the displacement components, the electric potential and the magnetic potential. Convergence of the method is checked using various Chebyshev polynomial terms. The effect of geometrical parameters and material properties of magneto-elastic/electro-elastic circular/annular plates on the eigenfrequencies of free vibration is considered.     

Three-dimensional free vibration of thick functionally graded annular plates in thermal environment

The free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) thick annular plates subjected to thermal environment is studied based on the 3D elasticity theory. The material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in the thickness direction. Considering the thermal environment effects and using Hamilton's principle, the equations of motion are derived. The effects of the initial thermal stresses are considered accurately by obtaining them from the 3D thermoelastic equilibrium equations. The differential quadrature method (DQM) as an efficient and accurate numerical tool is used to solve both the thermoelastic equilibrium and free vibration equations. Very fast rate of convergence of the method is demonstrated. Also, the formulation is validated by comparing the results with those obtained based on the first-order shear deformation theory and also with those available in the literature for the limit cases, i.e. annular plates without thermal effects. The effects of temperature rise, material and geometrical parameters on the natural frequencies are investigated. The new results can be used as benchmark solutions for future researches.     

Natural vibration of circular and annular thin plates by Hamiltonian approach

The present paper deals with the natural vibration of thin circular and annular plates using Hamiltonian approach. It is based on the conservation principle of mixed energy and is constructed in a new symplectic space. A set of Hamiltonian dual equations with derivatives with respect to the radial coordinate on one side of the equations and to the angular coordinate on the other side are obtained by using the variational principle of mixed energy. The separation of variables is employed to solve Hamiltonian dual equations of eigenvalue problem. Analytical frequency equations are obtained based on different cases of boundary conditions. The natural frequencies are the roots of the frequency equations and corresponding mode functions are in terms of the dual variables q₁(r, θ). Three basic edge-constraint cases for circular plates and nine edge-constraint cases for annular plates are calculated and the results are compared well with existing ones.     

An exact analytical approach to the free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with mixed boundary conditions

A comprehensive analytical technique is developed for the free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with discontinuities along the boundaries. For illustrative purposes a solution is obtained for plates with edges partially clamped and partially simply supported and plates with edges partially and partially simply supported. A vast array of first mode eigenvalues is provided for these families of plates. Solutions to the equations are obtained by exploiting a mathematical technique described by the author during an earlier publication. It is shown that eigenvalue matrices are easily generated for a wide range of plates with discontinuities in boundary conditions.     

Discrete and non-discrete mixed methods applied to eigenvalue problems of plates

A mixed variational formulation for eigenvalue problems of plates is presented. Spline functions with multiple nodes are used to interpolate the displacement and moment fields. The solution procedure can be applied in either discrete or non-discrete forms. In contrast with displacement methods, the specified boundary conditions can be considered very easily by introducing multiplicity in the boundary nodes. Numerical examples include buckling and free vibration, of rectangular plates, with in-plane loading and or elastic foundations. The accuracy of the results obtained and the superiority of the mixed methods presented to conventional displacement approaches are discussed.     

Eigenvalue analysis of Timoshenko beams and axisymmetric Mindlin plates by the pseudospectral method

A study of the free vibration of Timoshenko beams and axisymmetric Mindlin plates is presented. The analysis is based on the Chebyshev pseudospectral method, which has been widely used in the solution of fluid mechanics problems. Clamped, simply supported, free and sliding boundary conditions of Timoshenko beams are treated, and numerical results are presented for different thickness-to-length ratios. Eigenvalues of the axisymmetric vibration of Mindlin plates with clamped, simply supported and free boundary conditions are presented for various thickness-to-radius ratios.     

Exact analytical solution for free vibration of functionally graded micro/nanoplates via three-dimensional nonlocal elasticity

Using three-dimensional (3-D) nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen, this paper presents closed-form solutions for in-plane and out-of-plane free vibration of simply supported functionally graded (FG) rectangular micro/nanoplates. Elasticity modulus and mass density of FG material are assumed to vary exponentially through the thickness of micro/nanoplate, whereas Poisson's ratio is considered to be constant. By employing appropriate displacement fields for the in-plane and out-of-plane modes that satisfy boundary conditions of the plate, ordinary differential equations of free vibration are obtained. Boundary conditions on the lateral surfaces are imposed on the analytical solutions of the equations to yield the natural frequencies of FG micro/nanoplate. The natural frequencies of FG micro/nanoplate are obtained for different values of nonlocal parameter and gradient index of material properties. The results of this investigation can be used as a benchmark for the future numerical, semi-analytical and analytical studies on the free vibration of FG micro/nanoplates.     

Free vibration analysis of beams and rectangular plates with free edges by the discrete singular convolution

In this paper, free vibration of beams, annular plates, and rectangular plates with free boundaries are analyzed by using the discrete singular convolution (DSC). A novel method to apply the free boundary conditions is proposed. Detailed derivations are given. To validate the proposed method, eight examples, including the free vibrations of beams, annular plates and rectangular plates with free boundaries are analyzed. Two kernels, the regularized Shannon's kernel and the non-regularized Lagrange's delta sequence kernel, are tested. DSC results are compared with either analytical solutions or/and differential quadrature (DQ) data. It is demonstrated that the proposed method to incorporate the free boundary conditions is simple to use and can yield accurate frequency data for beams with a free end and plates with free edges. Thus, the proposed method for applying the boundary conditions extends the application range of the DSC.     

Free vibration and parametric resonance of shear deformable functionally graded cylindrical panels

This paper investigates free vibration and dynamic instability of functionally graded cylindrical panels subjected to combined static and periodic axial forces and in thermal environment. Theoretical formulations are based on Reddy's higher order shear deformation shell theory to account for rotary inertia and the parabolic distribution of the transverse shear strains through the panel thickness. Thermal effects due to steady temperature change are included in the analysis. Material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in the thickness direction according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The panel under current consideration is clamped or simply supported on two straight edges and may be either free, simply supported or clamped on the curved edges. A semi-analytical approach, which takes the advantages of one-dimensional differential quadrature approximation, Galerkin technique and Bolotin's method, is employed to determine the natural frequencies and the unstable regions of the panel. Numerical results for silicon nitride/stainless-steel cylindrical panels are given in both dimensionless tabular and graphical forms. Effects of material composition, temperature rise, panel geometry parameters, and boundary conditions on free vibration and the parametric resonance are also studied.     

Free vibration analysis of functionally graded conical shells and annular plates using the Haar wavelet method

The main aim of this paper is to provide a simple yet efficient solution for the free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) conical shells and annular plates. A solution approach based on Haar wavelet is introduced and the first-order shear deformation shell theory is adopted to formulate the theoretical model. The material properties of the shells are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction according to general four-parameter power-law distributions in terms of volume fractions of the constituents. The separation of variables is first performed; then Haar wavelet discretization is applied with respect to the axial direction and Fourier series is assumed with respect to the circumferential direction. The constants appearing from the integrating process are determined by boundary conditions, and thus the partial differential equations are transformed into algebraic equations. Then natural frequencies of the FG shells are obtained by solving algebraic equations. Accuracy and reliability of the current method are validated by comparing the present results with the existing solutions. Effects of some geometrical and material parameters on the natural frequencies of shells are discussed and some selected mode shapes are given for illustrative purposes. It’s found that accurate frequencies can be obtained by using a small number of collocation points and boundary conditions can be easily achieved. The advantages of this current solution method consist in its simplicity, fast convergence and excellent accuracy.     

Three-dimensional free vibration analysis of isotropic rectangular plates using the B-spline Ritz method

This paper presents three-dimensional free vibration analysis of isotropic rectangular plates with any thicknesses and arbitrary boundary conditions using the B-spline Ritz method based on the theory of elasticity. The proposed method is formulated by the Ritz procedure with a triplicate series of B-spline functions as amplitude displacement components. The geometric boundary conditions are numerically satisfied by the method of artificial spring. To demonstrate the convergence and accuracy of the present method, several examples with various boundary conditions are solved, and the results are compared with other published solutions by exact and other numerical methods based on the theory of elasticity and various plate theories. Rapid, stable convergences as well as high accuracy are obtained by the present method. The effects of geometric parameters on the vibrational behavior of cantilevered rectangular plates are also investigated. The results reported here may serve as benchmark data for finite element solutions and future developments in numerical methods.     

Nonlocal three-dimensional theory of elasticity with application to free vibration of functionally graded nanoplates on elastic foundations

In the present work, a three-dimensional (3D) elastic plate model capturing the small scale effects is developed for the free vibration of functionally graded (FG) nanoplates resting on elastic foundations. The theoretical model is formulated employing the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen in conjunction with the 3D equations of motion of elasticity.The material properties are assumed to vary continuously along the thickness of the nanoplate in accordance with the power law formulation. Through extending the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method to the three-dimensional case, the governing equations are simultaneously discretized in every three coordinate directions and are then recast to the standard form of an eigen value problem. Solving the acquired problem, the natural frequencies of the nanoplates with different boundary conditions are calculated. The convergence behavior of the numerical results is checked out and comparison studies are conducted to make sure of the accuracy and reliability of the present model. Finally, the dependence of the vibration behavior of the nanoplate on edge conditions, elastic coefficients of the foundation, scale coefficient, mode number, material and geometric parameters are discussed.     

Buckling and free vibration analysis of functionally graded cylindrical shells subjected to a temperature-specified boundary condition

Linear thermal buckling and free vibration analysis are presented for functionally graded cylindrical shells with clamped-clamped boundary condition based on temperature-dependent material properties. The material properties of functionally graded materials (FGM) shell are assumed to vary smoothly and continuously across the thickness. With high-temperature specified on the inner surface of the FGM shell and outer surface at ambient temperature, 1D heat conduction equation along the thickness of the shell is applied to determine the temperature distribution; thereby, the material properties based on temperature distribution are made available for thermal buckling and free vibration analysis. First-order shear deformation theory along with Fourier series expansion of the displacement variables in the circumferential direction are used to model the FGM shell. Numerical studies involved the understanding of the influence of the power-law index, r/h and l/r ratios on the critical buckling temperature. Free vibration studies of FGM shells under elevated temperature show that the fall in natural frequency is very drastic for the mode corresponding to the lowest natural frequency when compared to the lowest buckling temperature mode.     

Free vibration of polar-orthotropic sector plates

The free vibration of ring-shaped polar-orthotropic sector plates is analyzed by the Ritz method using a spline function as an admissible function for the deflection of the plates. For this purpose, the transverse deflection of a sector plate is written in a series of the products of the deflection function of a sectorial beam and that of a circular beam satisfying the boundary conditions. The deflection function of the sectorial beam is approximately expressed by a quintic spline function, which satisfies the equation of flexural vibration of the beam at each point dividing the beam into small elements. The frequency equation of the plate is derived by the conditions for a stationary value of the Lagrangian. The present method is applied to ring-shaped polar-orthotropic sector plates with some combination of boundary conditions, and the natural frequencies and the mode shapes are calculated numerically up to higher modes. This method is very effective for the study of vibration problems of variously shaped anisotropic plates including these sector plates.     

An efficient differential quadrature methodology for free vibration analysis of arbitrary straight-sided quadrilateral thin plates

In this paper, a new differential quadrature (DQ) methodology is employed to study free vibration of irregular quadrilateral straight-sided thin plates. A four-nodded super element is used to map the irregular physical domain into a square domain in the computational domain. Second order transformation schemes with relative ease and less computation are employed to transform the fourth order governing equation of thin plates between the two domains. The only degree of freedom within the domain is the displacement, whereas along the boundaries, the displacement as well as the second order derivative of the displacement with respect to associated normal co-ordinate variable in computational domain are the two degrees of freedom. Implementing the method, the formulation for the DQ method for the free vibration analysis of plates of straight-sided shapes was presented together with the implementation procedure for the different boundary conditions. To demonstrate the accuracy, convergency and stability of the new methodology, detail studies are made on isotropic plates at acute angles with different geometries, boundary and loading conditions including DQ free-edge boundary condition implementations. Accurate results even with fewer degrees of freedom than for those of comparable numerical algorithms were achieved.     

Modal analysis of circular plates with radial side cracks and in contact with water on one side based on the Rayleigh–Ritz method

In this paper, free vibrations of the baffled circular plates with radial side cracks and in contact with water on one side are investigated based on the Rayleigh–Ritz method. The completely free, simply supported and completely clamped boundary conditions are considered. Corner functions are introduced to describe the singularities at the crack tip. The motion of water is expressed by the velocity potential and the interaction between the water and the plate is derived in the form of an integral equation including the dynamic deformation of the cracked plate. The convergence studies are carried out and the numerical results show that the distinctions between the dry and wet mode shapes will be increased obviously excluding the first symmetric and antisymmetric modes when cracks appear. When the approximate methods based on the assumption that the wet modes are identical with the dry modes are adopted to calculate the eigenfrequencies, the errors of the results for cracked circular plates are larger than those for intact ones. The influences of the water on the symmetric and antisymmetric modes are different evidently, and the greatest reduction ratio of eigenfrequency and least difference between dry and wet mode are relative to the first symmetric mode. The verifications based on numerical simulation show that the proposed method is adequate for the investigation of free vibration of baffled circular plates with radial side cracks and in contact with water on one side.     

PREDICTION AND MEASUREMENT OF SOME DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF SANDWICH STRUCTURES WITH HONEYCOMB AND FOAM CORES

Some dynamical properties of sandwich beams and plates are discussed. The types of elements investigated are three-layered structures with lightweight honeycomb or foam cores with thin laminates bonded to each side of the core. A six order differential equation governing the apparent bending of sandwich beams is derived using Hamilton's principle. Bending, shear and rotation are considered. Boundary conditions for free, clamped and simply supported beams are formulated. The apparent bending stiffness of sandwich beams is found to depend on the frequency and the boundary conditions for the structure. Simple measurements on sandwich beams are used to determine the bending stiffness of the entire structure and at the same time the bending stiffness of the laminates as well as the shear stiffness of the core. A method for the prediction of eigenfrequencies and modes of vibration are presented. Eigenfrequencies for rectangular and orthotropic sandwich plates are calculated using the Rayleigh-Ritz technique assuming frequency dependent material parameters. Predicted and measured results are compared.