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.     

A variational approach to free vibration analysis of shear deformable polygonal plates with variable thickness

This paper presents a simple and general variational approach for the study of the free vibration behaviour of polygonal isotropic plates with variable thickness. The Reissner-Mindlin plate theory is used to take into account the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia in the analysis. Moreover, this theory allows obtaining greater accuracy of frequency coefficients corresponding to vibration higher modes, even for the thin plates.The governing eigenvalue equation is obtained employing the Ritz method. The plate geometry is approximated by using non-orthogonal triangular co-ordinates, while sets of independent polynomials, expressed in these co-ordinates, are employed to approximate the displacement and rotation fields. The developed algorithm allows obtaining approximated analytical solutions for plates with different aspect ratios, thickness variation and boundary conditions, including edges elastically restrained by both translational and rotational springs. Therefore, a unified program has been easily implemented. Convergence and comparison analyzes are carried out to verify the reliability and accuracy of the numerical solutions. Finally, sets of parametric studies are performed and the results are given in graphical and tabular form.     

VIBRATION OF PLATES IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS USING A HIGH-PRECISION SHEAR DEFORMABLE ELEMENT

A high-precision thick plate element proposed by the last author of this paper has been applied to free vibration analysis of plates to study its performance. The element has a triangular shape and it has three nodes at its corners, three mid-side nodes on each side and four nodes within the element. The transverse displacement and rotations of the normal have been taken as independent field variables and they have been approximated with polynomials of different orders. This has not only helped to include the effect of shear deformation but also made the element free from locking in shear. Initially, the number of degrees of freedom of the element is 35, which is reduced to 30 by eliminating the degrees of freedom of the internal nodes. This has been done through static condensation. To facilitate the condensation process, efficient mass lumping schemes have been recommended to form the mass matrix having zero mass for the internal nodes. Recommendation has also been made for the inclusion of mass for rotary inertia in a lumped mass matrix. Numerical examples of plates having different shapes and boundary conditions have been solved by this element. Examples of plates having internal cutout and concentrated mass have also been studied. The results obtained in all the cases have been compared with the published results to show the accuracy and range of applicability of the present element.     

Free vibration analysis of circular and annular sectorial thin plates using curve strip Fourier p-element

A curve strip Fourier p-element for free vibration analysis of circular and annular sectorial thin plates is presented. The element transverse displacement is described by a fixed number of polynomial shape functions plus a variable number of trigonometric shape functions. The polynomial shape functions are used to describe the element's nodal displacements and the trigonometric shape functions are used to provide additional freedom to the edges and the interior of the element. With the additional Fourier degrees of freedom (dof) and reduce dimensions, the accuracy of the computed natural frequencies is greatly increased. Results are obtained for a number of circular and annular sectorial thin plates and comparisons are made with exact, the curve strip Fourier p-element, the proposed Fourier p-element and the finite strip element. The results clearly show that the curve strip Fourier p-element produces a much higher accuracy than the proposed Fourier p-element, the finite strip element.     

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.     

Large amplitude flexural vibration of eccentrically stiffened plates

The large amplitude free flexural vibrations of thin, orthotropic, eccentrically and lightly stiffened elastic rectangular plates are investigated. Clamped boundary conditions with movable in-plane edge conditions are assumed. A simple modal form of one-term transverse displacement is used and in-plane displacements are made to satisfy the in-plane equilibrium equations. By using Lagrange's equation, the modal equations for the nonlinear free vibration of stiffened plates are obtained for the cases when the stiffeners are assumed to be smeared out over the entire surface of the plate, and when the stiffeners are located at finite intervals. Numerical results are obtained for various possibilities of stiffening and for different aspect ratios of the plate. By particularizing the problem to different known cases, the results obtained here are compared with available analytical and experimental results, and the agreement is good.     

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.     

EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS BY AN OPTICAL METHOD OF RESONANT FREQUENCES AND MODE SHAPES FOR SQUARE PLATES WITH ROUNDED CORNERS AND CHAMFERS

Most of the work done on vibration of plates published in the literature includes analytical and numerical studies with few experimental results available. In this paper, an optical system called the amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry for the out-of-plane displacement measurement is employed to investigate the vibration behavior of plates with rounded corners and with chamfers. The boundary conditions are traction free along the circumference of the plate. Based on the fact that clear fringe patterns will appear only at resonant frequencies, both resonant frequencies and corresponding mode shapes can be obtained experimentally using the present method. Numerical calculations by finite element method are also performed and the results are compared with the experimental measurements. Good agreements are obtained for both results. It is interesting to note that the mode number sequences for some resonant modes are changed. The transition of mode shapes from the square plate to the circular plate is also discussed.     

Vibrations of rectangular plates reinforced by any number of beams of arbitrary lengths and placement angles

This paper presents an analytical method for the vibration analysis of plates reinforced by any number of beams of arbitrary lengths and placement angles. Both the plate and stiffening beams are generally modeled as three-dimensional (3-D) structures having six displacement components at a point, and the coupling at an interface is generically described by a set of distributed elastic springs. Each of the displacement functions is here invariably expressed as a modified Fourier series, which consists of a standard Fourier cosine series plus several supplementary series/functions used to ensure and improve uniform convergence of the series representation. Unlike most existing techniques, the current method offers a unified solution to the vibration problems for a wide spectrum of stiffened plates, regardless of their boundary conditions, coupling conditions, and reinforcement configurations. Several numerical examples are presented to validate the methodology and demonstrate the effect on modal parameters for a stiffened plate with various boundary conditions, coupling conditions, and reinforcement configurations.     

Free vibration analysis of non-cylindrical helical springs by the pseudospectral method

The pseudospectral method is applied to the free vibration analysis of non-cylindrical helical springs. The entire domain is considered as a single element and the displacements and the rotations are approximated by the sums of Chebyshev polynomials. The internal forces and moments are substituted to give six equations of motion, which are collocated to yield the system of algebraic equations. The boundary condition is considered as the constraints, and the set of equations is condensed so that the number of degrees of freedom of the problem matches the number of the expansion coefficients. Numerical examples are provided for clamped-clamped, free-free, clamped-free and hinged-hinged boundary conditions.     

Free vibration analysis of continuous orthotropic bridge decks

While studies of the free vibration problem of single span bridge slabs have been undertaken by a number of authors, literature on continuous span orthotropic bridge slabs is rather scarce. Furthermore, general continuous bridge deck problems have been dealt with by approximate methods only for specific types of boundary conditions. In this paper an attempt is made to formulate a general analytical solution which would be applicable to all types of boundary conditions. The solution developed is discussed here with special reference to “bridge type” boundary conditions. The analysis is based on the ordinary theory of thin plates and is formulated for linearly elastic materials with isotropic or orthotropic properties. A Levy-type series solution is employed and the problem of free vibration analysis of continuous isotropic and orthotropic bridge slabs is solved by using the principle of superposition. The solution is tested for convergence by varying the number of terms in the solution and the convergence is found to be excellent. Results obtained for continuous isotropic bridge decks are compared with published solutions and close agreements are found. For orthotropic bridge decks a similar comparison was not possible because of a lack of published results in the technical literature.     

Free vibration of three-dimensional multilayered magneto-electro-elastic plates under combined clamped/free boundary conditions

In this paper, we study the free vibration of multilayered magneto-electro-elastic plates under combined clamped/free lateral boundary conditions using a semi-analytical discrete-layer approach. More specifically, we use piecewise continuous approximations for the field variables in the thickness direction and continuous polynomial approximations for those within the plane of the plate. Group theory is further used to isolate the nature of the vibrational modes to reduce the computational cost. As numerical examples, two cases of the lateral boundary conditions combined with the clamped and free edges are considered. The non-dimensional frequencies and mode shapes of elastic displacements, electric and magnetic potentials are presented. Our numerical results clearly illustrate the effect of the stacking sequences and magneto-electric coupling on the frequencies and mode shapes of the anisotropic magneto-electro-elastic plate, and should be useful in future vibration study and design of multilayered magneto-electro-elastic plates.     

Stability and natural vibration analysis of laminated plates by using a mixed element based on a refined plate theory

A mixed shear flexible finite element, with relaxed continuity, is developed for the geometrically linear and non-linear analysis of layered anisotropic plates. The element formulation is based on a refined higher order theory which satisfies the zero transverse shear stress boundary conditions on the top and bottom faces of the plate and requires no shear correction coefficients. The mixed finite element developed herein consists of eleven degrees of freedom per node which include three displacements, two rotations and six moment resultants. The element is evaluated for its accuracy in the analysis of the stability and vibration of anisotropic rectangular plates with different lamination schemes and boudary conditions. The mixed finite element described here for the higher order theory gives very accurate results for buckling loads and natural frequencies.     

Response of an open curved thin shell to a random pressure field arising from a turbulent boundary layer

A method is presented to predict the root mean square displacement response of an open curved thin shell structure subjected to a turbulent boundary-layer-induced random pressure field. The basic formulation of the dynamic problem is an efficient approach combining classic thin shell theory and the finite element method, in which the finite elements are flat rectangular shell elements with five degrees of freedom per node. The displacement functions are derived from Sanders’ thin shell theory. A numerical approach is proposed to obtain the total root mean square displacements of an open curved thin structure in terms of the cross spectral density of random pressure fields. The cross spectral density of pressure fluctuations in the turbulent pressure field is described using the Corcos formulation. Exact integrations over surface and frequency lead to an expression for the total root mean square displacement response in terms of the characteristics of the structure and flow. An in-house program based on the presented method was developed. The total root mean square displacements of a curved thin blade subjected to turbulent boundary layers were calculated and illustrated as a function of free stream velocity and damping ratio. A numerical implementation for the vibration of a cylinder excited by fully developed turbulent boundary layer flow was presented. The results compared favorably with those obtained using software developed by Lakis and Païdoussis (J. Sound Vib. 25 (1972) 1–27) using cylindrical elements and a hybrid finite element method.     

The vibration and post-buckling of geometrically imperfect,simply supported,rectangular plates under uni-axial loading,part I: Theoretical approach

The work described in this paper constitutes the theoretical part of a theoretical and experimental study of the post-buckling and vibration of simply supported rectangular plates having slight initial curvature (geometrical imperfection) and subject to uni-axially applied, in-plane, compressive loads. The experimental part, and the comparison with theoretical predictions, is given in a second paper. The Rayleigh-Ritz approach, with a deflection function formulation for both the in- and out-of-plane behaviour of the plates, is used since this permits the convenient modelling of various types of in-plane boundary conditions, including those encountered in the experimental study. A concept of connection coefficients, introduced to reduce the computational effort involved, is described. In order to illustrate the applicability of the theoretical approach, a number of square plates having various sets of in-plane boundary conditions and degrees of initial imperfection are treated. Graphical results are presented showing the variation of the lateral central deflection and the fundamental natural frequency of vibration with applied in-plate loads varying from zero to several times the lowest critical buckling load. Where possible, comparison is made with values available in the literature and excellent agreement is achieved. The results presented appear to suggest that an approximately linear relationship exists between a load-frequency parameter and the central deflection of the plates considered, for a substantial in-plane loading range.     

Mathematical model of the dynamics of micropolar elastic thin beams. Free and forced vibrations

A method of hypotheses has been developed to construct a mathematical model of micropolar elastic thin beams. The method is based on the asymptotic properties of the solution ofan initial boundary value problem in a thin rectangle within the micropolar theory of elasticity with independent displacement and rotation fields. An applied model of the dynamics of micropolar elastic thin beams was constructed in which transverse shear strains and related strains are taken into account. The constructed dynamics model was used to solve problems of free and forced vibrations of a micropolar beam. Free vibration frequencies and modes, forced vibration amplitudes, and resonance conditions were determined. The obtained numerical calculation results show the specific features of free vibrations of thin beams. Micropolar thin beams have a free vibration frequency which is almost independent of the thin beam size, but depends only on the physical and inertial properties of the micropolar material. It is shown for the micropolar material that the free vibration frequency values of beams can be readily adjusted and hence a large vibration frequency separation can be achieved, which is important for studying resonance.     

Free vibration of super elliptical plates with constant and variable thickness by Ritz method

In this study free vibration of simply supported and clamped super elliptical plates is investigated. This class of plates includes a wide range of external boundaries varying from an ellipse to a rectangle. Although studies on the upper and lower bounds of these plate geometries, namely circle and rectangle, are quite extensive, contributions on the mid-shapes, especially for simply supported boundary edges are very limited. The Kirchhoff plate model with isotropic and homogeneous material is studied. The super elliptical powers are chosen from 1 to 10. The Ritz method is employed for the solution of the energy equations of the plates. The effects of Poisson's ratio, which should not be neglected for simply supported plates with curved boundaries, and the aspect ratio of the plate are both examined in detail. The effect of thickness variation is also considered in this study. In order to avoid long computational run times, physically pertinent trial functions are utilized. The frequency parameters obtained are presented and compared with published results for plate shapes that match the current cases.     

Arnold's method for asymptotic stability of steady inviscid incompressible flow through a fixed domain with permeable boundary

The flow of an ideal fluid in a domain with a permeable boundary may be asymptotically stable. Here the permeability means that the fluid can flow into and out of the domain through some parts of the boundary. This permeability is a principal reason for the asymptotic stability. Indeed, the well-known conservation laws make the asymptotic stability of an inviscid flow impossible, if the usual no flux condition on a rigid wall (or on a free boundary) is employed. We study the stability problem using the direct Lyapunov method in the Arnold's form. We prove the linear and nonlinear Lyapunov stability of a two-dimensional flow through a domain with a permeable boundary under Arnold's conditions. Under certain additional conditions, we amplify the linear result and prove the exponential decay of small disturbances. Here we employ the plan of the proof of the Barbashin-Krasovskiy theorem, established originally only for systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

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.     

Vibration analysis of functionally graded annular plates with mixed boundary conditions in thermal environment

The free vibration analysis of functionally graded annular plates with mixed boundary conditions in thermal environment is carried out by the 3D elasticity theory and the Chebyshev–Ritz method. The material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in the thickness direction. The mixed boundary conditions which include upper and lower surfaces partially fixed, inner side partially fixed and outer side partially fixed are considered, respectively. The accuracy of the present approach for solving the free vibration of the plates with different boundary conditions is validated by comparing the present numerical results with the results available. The effects of the different mixed boundary conditions, the temperature rise, the material graded index and the geometrical parameters on the eigen-frequencies are studied.