FREE-VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF MINDLIN PLATES WITH PARABOLICALLY VARYING THICKNESS

The free transverse vibration characteristics of rectangular plates by including the effect of transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia is presented. A method based on the variational procedure in conjunction with the finite difference technique is used to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes. The convergence characteristics of the present method are studied by varying the thickness parameter and running a comparison with the classical thin plate solutions. The effects of the thickness parameter and taper thickness ratio on the vibration characteristics are studied. The predictions are presented for the simply supported and clamped plates and they are compared with existing solutions based on the thin plate theory. © 1990.