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.