Small amplitude vibration of an eccentric annular plate, which is free
along its outer edge and clamped along the interior, is investigated
through experimental and analytical methods. A disk with this geometry
, or a stacked array in which the clamping and symmetry axes of each d
isk are nominally coincident, is common in data storage and brake syst
ems applications. In the present case, the geometric imperfections on
the boundary can have important implications for the disk's dynamic re
sponse. Changes that occur in the natural frequency spectrum, the mode
shapes, and the free response under eccentric mounting are studied th
rough laboratory measurements and an approximate discrete model of the
plate. The natural frequencies and modes are found through global dis
cretization of the Kamke quotient for a classical thin plate. For the
axisymmetric geometry, the natural frequencies of the ''sine'' and ''c
osine '' vibration modes for a specified number of nodal diameters are
repeated. With increasing eccentricity, on the other hand, each pair
of repeated frequencies splits at a rate that depends on the number of
nodal diameters. Over a range of clamping and eccentricity ratios, th
e model's predictions are compared to the measured results.