Free vibration of thick, layered rectangular plates with point supports byfinite layer method

In this paper, the free vibration of thick, isotropic and laminated composi te rectangular plates with point supports is analyzed by the finite layer m ethod. A new set of two-dimensional basic functions, which satisfies the ki nematic boundary conditions at the edges of the plate and the zero-displace ment conditions at point supports, is developed to describe the variation o f three-dimensional displacements in the plane of a thin finite layer. One- dimensional linear or quadratic shape functions are adopted to describe the variation of the displacements through the thickness layer. The governing eigenvalue equation of the plate is derived via the conventional displaceme nt method. Numerical results for the three-dimensional vibration of rectang ular plates with point supports are presented herein for the first time. Th e eigenfrequencies of simply-supported rectangular plates with a central po int-support are studied in detail by considering the variations of aspect r atio, side-to-thickness ratio, properties of materials, number of laminates and stacking sequences. Comparison with known thin-plate and Mindlin-plate solutions is carried out to verify the applicability and accuracy of the p roposed method. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.