VIBRATION OF CRACKED ANNULAR PLATES

A surface peripheral crack of an annular plate is modelled as a local rotational flexibility for vibration analysis. Computed values of the local stiffness are very close to those computed by using strain energ y arguments and data for beam-like structures. From the solution of th e appropriate eigenvalue problem, the decrement of the fundamental nat ural frequency of the plate, due to the presence of the crack, is comp uted. Results are used for crack identification in annular plates.