To account for the effect of transverse shear deformation, the p-Ritz metho
d incorporating Reddy's third-order shear deformation theory has been devel
oped for the vibration analysis of cantilevered, thick, laminated, trapezoi
dal plates. Tn the p-Ritz method, a set of uniquely defined polynomial func
tions, consisting of the product of a two-dimensional function and a basic
function, are used as the admissible trial displacement and rotation functi
ons in the Ritz minimization procedure. The energy integral is formulated b
ased on Reddy's third-order sheer deformation theory. From the p-Ritz metho
d, the governing eigenvalue equation is derived which is used to compute th
e vibration frequency parameters and mode shapes of the laminated plate. Co
nvergence and comparison studies have been presented to demonstrate and ver
ify the accuracy of the results. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd
. All rights reserved.