A SINUSOIDAL STIFFNESS MATRIX FOR BUCKLING AND VIBRATION ANALYSES OF RECTANGULAR MINDLIN PLATES

A sinusoidal stiffness matrix for buckling and vibration analyses of r ectangular Mindlin plates has been derived. The buckling and/or vibrat ion equations of Mindlin plate theory have been stated. It has been sh own how these equations contain, as a limiting case, those of classica l thin plate theory. The equations have been written in dimensionless form and the independent parameters which govern the problem have been established. The contributions of shear deformation and rotational in ertia have been identified. Coupled terms, related to both shear defor mation and rotational inertia, have also been noted. Some consideratio ns for a proper choice of the shear factor have been reported on the b asis of information available in the literature. Finally, it has been shown how the coefficients of the stiffness matrix arising from Mindli n plate theory may be related to those of the classical theory and con vergence in the limit has been demonstrated. Some remarks on the aspec ts which need further investigation and development conclude the paper . (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited.