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.     

Vibration analysis of circular cylindrical double-shell structures under general coupling and end boundary conditions

In this paper, the free and forced vibration analysis of circular cylindrical double-shell structures under arbitrary boundary conditions is presented. This is achieved by employing the improved Fourier series method based on Hamilton’s principle. In the formulation, each displacement component of the cylindrical shells and annular plates is invariantly expanded as the superposition of a standard Fourier series with several supplementary functions introduced to remove the potential discontinuities of the original displacement and its derives at the boundaries. With the introduction of four sets of boundary springs at the coupling interfaces and end boundaries of the shell–plate combination, both elastic and rigid coupling and end boundary conditions can be easily obtained by assigning the stiffnesses of the artificial springs to certain values. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of the structures as well as frequency responses under forced vibration are obtained with the Rayleigh–Ritz procedure. The convergence of the method is validated by comparing the present results with those obtained by the finite element method. Several numerical results including natural frequencies and mode shapes are presented to demonstrate the excellent accuracy and reliability of the current method. Finally, a number of parameter studies concerning various end and coupling boundary conditions, different dimensions of shells and annular plates are also performed.     

A unified approach for predicting sound radiation from baffled rectangular plates with arbitrary boundary conditions

This paper discusses sound radiation from a baffled rectangular plate with each of its edges arbitrarily supported in the form of elastic restraints. The plate displacement function is universally expressed as a 2-D Fourier cosine series supplemented by several 1-D series. The unknown Fourier expansion coefficients are then determined by using the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure. Once the vibration field is solved, the displacement function is further simplified to a single standard 2-D Fourier cosine series in the subsequent acoustic analysis. Thus, the sound radiation from a rectangular plate can always be obtained from the radiation resistance matrix for an invariant set of cosine functions, regardless of its actual dimensions and boundary conditions. Further, this radiation resistance matrix, unlike the traditional ones for modal functions, only needs to be calculated once for all plates with the same aspect ratio. In order to determine the radiation resistance matrix effectively, an analytical formula is derived in the form of a power series of the non-dimensional acoustic wavenumber; the formula is mathematically valid and accurate for any wavenumber. Several numerical examples are presented to validate the formulations and show the effect of the boundary conditions on the radiation behavior of planar sources.     

Harmonic Green's functions for flexural waves in semi-infinite plates with arbitrary boundary conditions and high-frequency approximation for convex polygonal plates

This paper provides a method for obtaining the harmonic Green's function for flexural waves in semi-infinite plates with arbitrary boundary conditions and a high frequency approximation of the Green's function in the case of convex polygonal plates, by using a generalised image source method. The classical image source method consists in describing the response of a point-driven polygonal plate as a superposition of contributions from the original source and virtual sources located outside of the plate, which represent successive reflections on the boundaries. The proposed approach extends the image source method to plates including boundaries that induce coupling between propagating and evanescent components of the field and on which reflection depends on the angle of incidence. This is achieved by writing the original source as a Fourier transform representing a continuous sum of propagating and evanescent plane waves incident on the boundaries. Thus, the image source contributions arise as continuous sums of reflected plane waves. For semi-infinite plates, the exact Green's function is obtained for an arbitrary set of boundary conditions. For polygonal plates, a high-frequency approximation of the Green's function is obtained by neglecting evanescent waves for the second and subsequent reflections on the edges. The method is compared to exact and finite element solutions and evaluated in terms of its frequency range of applicability.     

Vibrations of a polygonal plate having orthogonal straight edges by an extended rayleigh-ritz method

An extended Rayleigh-Ritz method is presented for solving vibration problems of a polygonal plate having orthogonal straight edges. The polygonal plate is considered as an assemblage of several rectangular plates. For each element rectangular plate, the transverse displacement is approximated by interpolation functions corresponding to unknown displacements and slopes at the discrete points which are chosen along the edges, and series of trial functions which satisfy homogeneous artificial boundary conditions. By minimizing the energy functional corresponding to the assumed displacement function, the dynamic stiffness matrix of the element rectangular plate, which is similar to that obtained in the finite element method, is derived. The dynamic stiffness matrix of the whole system is obtained by summing up those of the element rectangular plates. Numerical results are presented for the natural frequencies and mode shapes of cantilever L-shaped and T-shaped plates.     

Non-linear flexural vibrations of orthotropic rectangular plates

This study is an analytical investigation of free flexural large amplitude vibrations of orthotropic rectangular plates with all-clamped and all-simply supported stress-free edges. The dynamic von Karman-type equations of the plate are used in the analysis. A solution satisfying the prescribed boundary conditions is expressed in the form of double series with coefficients being functions of time. The model equations are solved by expanding the time-dependent deflection coefficients into Fourier cosine series. As obtained by taking the first sixteen terms in the double series and the first two terms in the time series, numerical results are presented for non-linear frequencies of various modes of glass-epoxy, boron-epoxy and graphite-epoxy plates. The analysis shows that, for large values of the amplitude, the effect of coupling of vibrating modes on the non-linear frequency of the fundamental mode is significant for orthotropic plates, especially for high-modulus composite plates.     

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.     

On the non-linear vibrations of rectangular plates

A solution, based on a one-term mode shape, for the large amplitude vibrations of a rectangular orthotropic plate, simply supported on all edges or clamped on all edges for movable and immovable in-plane conditions, is found by using an averaging technique that helps to satisfy the in-plane boundary conditions. This averaging technique for satisfying the immovable in-plane conditions can be used to resolve many anisotropic and skew plate problems where otherwise, when a stress function is used, the integration of the u and v equations becomes difficult, if not impossible. The results obtained herein are compared with those available in the literature for the isotropic case and excellent agreement is found. Results available for the one-term mode shape solutions of these problems are compared and the non-linear effect is presented as functions of aspect ratio and of the orthotropic elastic constants of the plate. The results are further compared with those based on the Berger method and the detailed comparative studies show that the use of the Berger approximation for large deflection static and dynamic problems and its extension to anisotropic plates, skew plates, etc., can lead to quite inaccurate results.     

Transient response in flexure to general uni-directional loads of variable cross-section beam with concentrated tip inertias immersed in a fluid

This paper presents a method for solving problems of transient response in flexure due to general unidirectional dynamic loads of beams of variable cross section with tip inertias. An elastodynamic theory which includes effects of continuous mass and rigidity of the beam has been applied. In the analysis the general dynamic load is expanded into a Fourier series and the beam is divided into many small uniform thickness segments. The equation of motion of each segment is mapped onto the complex domain by use of the Laplace transform method. The solutions of each set of adjoining segments are related to each other at the boundaries by the use of the transfer matrix method. The displacement, the bending slope, the bending moment and the shearing force at each boundary and at arbitrary time are obtained from the Laplace transform inversion integral by using the residue theorem. The theoretical results given in this paper are applicable to problems of dynamic response due to arbitrary loads varying with time of beams of arbitrary shape with concentrated tip inertias. As applications of the present theoretical results, numerical calculations have been carried out for two cases: a uniform beam with a tip inertia and a non-uniform beam (a truncated cone) with a tip inertia. Both are immersed in a fluid and subjected to large waves such as cnoidal waves.     

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.     

Transverse vibrations of circular plates of varying thickness with non-uniform edge constraints

Free vibrations of circular plates varying in thickness and with flexible edge supports have been studied by several investigators for the restricted case when the supports are represented by uniformly distributed springs of constant stiffness.In the present study an approximate method is presented for dealing with supports possessing rotational flexibility which varies arbitrarily around the boundary.The method consists in representing the varying stiffness in terms of a Fourier expansion in the polar angle and approximately expressing the displacement function using a summation of polynomial co-ordinate functions which exactly satisfies only the essential boundary condition. The Ritz method is then applied in order to obtain the frequency determinant. The method can be easily extended to the forced vibrations case.     

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.     

Periodic geometrically nonlinear free vibrations of circular plates

The geometrically nonlinear free vibrations of thin isotropic circular plates are investigated using a multi-degree-of-freedom model, which is based on thin plate theory and on Von Kármán's nonlinear strain-displacement relations. The middle plane in-plane displacements are included in the formulation and the common axisymmetry restriction is not imposed. The equations of motion are derived by the principle of the virtual work and an approximated model is achieved by assuming that the in-plane and transverse displacement fields are given by weighted series of spatial functions. These spatial functions are based on hierarchical sets of polynomials, which have been successfully used in p-version finite elements for beams and rectangular plates, and on trigonometric functions. Employing the harmonic balance method, the differential equations of motion are converted into a nonlinear algebraic form and then solved by a continuation method. Convergence with the number of shape functions and of harmonics is analysed. The numerical results obtained are presented and compared with available published results; it is shown that the hierarchical sets of functions provide good results with a small number of degrees of freedom. Internal resonances are found and the ensuing multimodal oscillations are described.     

Wave propagation in ground-structure systems,Part I: Analysis of the model with surface contact

A simple two-dimensional model composed of a structure lying on a viscoelastic half-space (VEHS) with a continuous flexible interface is considered as a ground-structure system. Structural vibration and sound radiation into the closed space of the structure resulting from a harmonic line force applied on the ground surface are investigated theoretically. The structure is modeled as thin plates and the ground-structure interface is assumed to be perfectly bonded in both horizontal and vertical directions. Boundary conditions at the edges of the base plate cannot be expressed in an explicit form, such as free, simply supported or clamped, and so the fundamental modes of vibration also are unknown. Therefore, a modified Fourier series expansion method, which can be applied to problems with arbitrary boundary conditions, is used to obtain an approximate solution to the present problem. Relations between the Fourier component of the displacement and the corresponding stresses are formulated by using the Green function approach in the form of integral equations which can be solved numerically, regardless of the upper structure. Consequently the unknown coefficients of the components can be obtained as a result of the response of the whole system.     

ANALYSIS OF THE FLEXURAL VIBRATION OF A THIN-PLATE BOX USING A COMBINATION OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS AND ANALYTICAL IMPEDANCES

Many practical built-up thin-plate structures, e.g., a modern car body, are essentially assemblies of numerous thin plates joined at their edges. The plates are so thin that they invariably support the weight of the structure and machinery using their substantial in-plane stiffness. Consequently, vibrational power injected into the structure from sources mounted at these stiff points is controlled by high impedance long-wavelength in-plane waves in the plates. As the long in-plane waves propagate around the structure, they impinge upon the numerous structural joints at which short-wavelength flexural waves are generated in adjoining plates. These flexural waves have much lower impedance than the in-plane waves. Hence, the vibration of thin-plate structures excited at their stiff points develops into a mixture of long in-plane waves and short flexural waves. In a previous paper by the same authors, a numerically efficient finite element analysis which accommodated only the long in-plane waves was used to predict the forced response of a six-sided thin-plate box at the stiff points. This paper takes that finite element analysis and, drawing on theory developed in two additional papers by the same authors, couples analytical impedances to it in order to represent the short flexural waves generated at the structural joints. The parameters needed to define these analytical impedances are identified. The vibration of the impedances are used to calculate estimates of the mean-square flexural vibration of the box sides which compare modestly with laboratory measurements. The method should have merit in predicting the vibration of built-up thin-plate structures in the so-called “mid-frequency” region where the modal density of the long waves is too low to allow confident application of statistical energy analysis, yet the modal density of the short flexural waves is too high to allow efficient finite element analysis.     

Scattering by cavities of arbitrary shape in an infinite plate and associated vibration problems

This paper presents a solution for the displacement of a uniform elastic thin plate with an arbitrary cavity, modelled using the biharmonic plate equation. The problem is formulated as a system of boundary integral equations by factorizing the biharmonic equation, with the unknown boundary values expanded in terms of a Fourier series. At the edge of the cavity we consider free-edge, simply-supported and clamped boundary conditions. Methods to suppress ill-conditioning which occurs at certain frequencies are discussed, and the combined boundary integral equation method is implemented to control this problem. A connection is made between the problem of an infinite plate with an arbitrary cavity and the vibration problem of an arbitrarily shaped finite plate, using the jump discontinuity present in single-layer distributions at the boundary. The first few frequencies and modes of displacement are computed for circular and elliptic cavities, which provide a check on our numerics, and results for the displacement of an infinite plate are given for four specific cavity geometries and various boundary conditions.     

A Study of Crack-Face Boundary Conditions for Piezoelectric Strip Cut Along Two Equal Collinear Cracks

A problem of two equal, semi-permeable, collinear cracks, situated normal to the edges of an infinitely long piezoelectric strip is considered. Piezoelectric strip being prescribed out-of-plane shear stress and in-plane electric-displacement. The Fourier series and integral equation methods are adopted to obtain analytical solution of the problem. Closed-form analytic expressions are derived for various fracture parameters viz. crack-sliding displacement, crack opening potential drop, field intensity factors and energy release rate. An numerical case study is considered for poled PZT−5H, $BaTiO_3$ and PZT−6B piezoelectric ceramics to study the effect of applied electro-mechanical loadings, crack-face boundary conditions as well as inter-crack distance on fracture parameters. The obtained results are presented graphically, discussed and concluded.     

Vibration analysis of rectangular plates with general elastic boundary supports

In this investigation, the Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to determine the modal characteristics of a rectangular plate with general elastic supports alone its edges. Each of the admissible functions here is composed of a trigonometric function and an arbitrary continuous function that is introduced to ensure the sufficient smoothness of the so-called residual displacement function at the edges. As a result, a drastic improvement of the convergence can be expected of the solution expressed as a series expansion in terms of the admissible functions. Perhaps more importantly, this study has developed a general approach for deriving a complete set of admissible functions that can be universally applied to various boundary conditions. Several numerical examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and convergence of the current solution.     

Vibration behaviors of a box-type structure built up by plates and energy transmission through the structure

The vibration behaviors of a box-type built-up structure and energy transmission through the structure are investigated analytically. The modeling of the structure is developed by employing the improved Fourier series method and treating the structure as four elastically coupled rectangular plates. The general coupling and boundary conditions are accounted for using the artificial spring technique and can easily be obtained by assigning the springs with corresponding values. The exact double Fourier series solutions considering both the flexural and in-plane vibrations are obtained by using the Rayleigh–Ritz approach, which are validated by comparison with the Finite Element Method (FEM) results. Since the modification of any parameter in this analytical model from one case to another is as simple as modifying the material properties, and does not involve any change to the solution procedures, thus this will make a parametric study and further mechanism analysis easier compared to most existing procedures. Subsequently, special attention is focused on the energy transmission and mechanism of the box-type structure by structural intensity analysis. Numerical analyses cover several important parameters including symmetrical and non-symmetrical coupling conditions and the excitations, and three types of models, namely the rigidly, elastically and weakly coupled models are involved. The results of the power flow and structural intensity are presented to obtain a clear physical understanding of the physical mechanisms of energy transmission. It is shown that the energy transmission behaviors can be significantly influenced by the coupling conditions and location of the excitation as well as the excitation frequency. Some unexpected interesting phenomena on the energy transmission were revealed, especially for the non-symmetrical model, and the corresponding mechanisms were interpreted. This study provides new and interesting insights into the vibration behaviors and energy transmission of the class of built-up box-type structure.     

剪切散斑干涉术的统计分析

本文用统计光学方法分析了剪切散斑图的成象过程;散斑图的频谱分布以及全场滤波干涉条纹的形成.发现剪切散斑干涉条纹不仅与三维位移微分有关,而且与面内位移量有关.在此基础上又讨论了影响干涉条纹质量的有关因素,并作了实验验证.