Free vibrations of a generally restrained rectangular plate with an internal line hinge

This paper deals with the study of free transverse vibrations of rectangular plates with an internal line hinge and elastically restrained boundaries. The equations of motion and its associated boundary and transition conditions are rigorously derived using Hamilton’s principle. The governing eigenvalue equation is solved employing a combination of the Ritz method and the Lagrange multipliers method. The deflections of the plate and the Lagrange multipliers are approximated by polynomials as coordinate functions. The developed algorithm allows obtaining approximate solutions for plates with different aspect ratios, boundary conditions, including edges elastically restrained by both translational and rotational springs, and arbitrary locations of the line hinge. Therefore, a unified algorithm has been implemented. Sets of parametric studies are performed and the results are given in graphical and tabular form.     

Free vibrations of laminated composite cylindrical shells with an interior rectangular plate

The free vibration analysis of a laminated composite cylindrical shell with an interior rectangular plate is performed by the analytical and experimental methods. The frequency equations of vibration of the shell including the plate are formulated by using the receptance method. To obtain the free vibration characteristics before the combination of two structures, the energy principle based on the classical plate theory and Love's thin shell theory is adopted. The numerical results are compared with the results from an experiment, as well as a finite element analysis, to validate the current formulation. The influences of the length-to-radius ratio (L_S/a) and radius-to-thickness ratio (a/h_S) of the shell and fiber orientation angles (Θ) of symmetric cross- and angle-ply composite materials on the natural frequencies of a cylindrical laminated combined shell are also discussed in details.     

A note on transverse vibrations of a rectangular plate with a free,rectangular, corner cut-out

An approximate solution to the title problem is presented, obtained by using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The analysis is presented for the case of simply supported and clamped plates. For the case of a rigidly clamped plate results are presented of numerical experiments on minimizing the calculated value of the fundamental frequency coefficient by using Schmidt's approach. An experimental investigation is described on a clamped square plate with a free square, corner cut-out, which has led to the conclusion that the fundamental frequency coeficient remains practically invariant with respect to size when compared with the frequency coefficient of the fully clamped plate. A similar conclusion is arrived at by means of the mathematical model. The problem under consideration is important from a practical viewpoint since cut-outs of the type considered here are quite common in engineering practice.     

Forced vibrations of a rectangular plate with non-uniform thickness

The dependence on frequency of the maximum deflection and surface stresses of a simply supported rectangular plate subjected to a uniformly distributed sinusoidal excitation is discussed and simple formulae are proposed for estimating the deflection and surface stresses. The thickness of the plate varies linearly in one direction parallel to a side of the plate.     

A note on forced vibrations of a clamped rectangular plate

Simple polynomial approximations and Galerkin's method are used to determine the response of a thin, elastic, rectangular plate clamped along the boundary and subjected to sinusoidal excitation. It also is shown that a one-term polynomial solution yields good accuracy in the case of a rectangular plate with simply supported edges.     

An approximate solution for the bending vibrations of a combination of rectangular thin plates

The appropriate method often used for calculating the bending vibration of a single rectangular plate is extended to calculate the bending vibrations of a global system of combinations of rectangular plates with elastically supported and damped non-coupled edges. Two examples, a series of T-combinations and an L-combination of rectangular thin isotropic plates, are considered and the input and transfer mobilities due to point excitation derived. Numerical results are presented for the case of combinations of concrete plates and the effects of varying the material damping of the plates and edge damping are investigated.The eigenfrequencies of an L-combination of plates with one plate of very high bending stiffness are calculated and results compare well with the eigenfrequencies of a single plate calculated by means of the classical Ritz-Rayleigh method.     

Free vibrations of a plate with an inner support

The title problem is tackled by using a simple polynomial co-ordinate function and the Rayleigh-Schmidt method. It is assumed that the inner support is parallel to the free edge. When the support coincides with the free edge the frequency equation degenerates properly into the case of a simply supported edge. Numerical results are presented for the situation where two opposite edges are simply supported and the edge parallel to the free edge is either clamped or simply supported.     

Flexural vibrations of a rectangular plate for the lower normal modes

Theoretical and experimental results for flexural waves of a rectangular plate with free ends are obtained. Both the natural frequencies and mode shapes are analyzed for the lower normal modes. To take into account the boundary conditions, a plane wave expansion method is used to solve the thin plate theory also known as the 2D Kirchhoff-Love equation. The excitation and detection of the normal modes of the out-of-plane waves are performed using non-contact electromagnetic-acoustic transducers. We conclude that this experimental technique is highly reliable due to the good agreement between theory and experiment.     

Transverse vibrations of a non-uniform rectangular plate on an elastic foundation

Free transverse vibrations of an isotropic rectangular plate of variable thickness resting on an elastic foundation has been studied on the basis of classical plate theory. The fourth-order differential equation governing the motion is solved by using the quintic spline interpolation technique. Characteristic equations for plates of exponentially varying thickness have been obtained for three combinations of boundary conditions at the edges. Frequencies, mode shapes and moments have been computed for different values of the taper constant and the foundation moduli for the first three modes of vibration.