A random vibration analysis on a portable electronic product is presented i
n this paper based on a simplified physical model. The analysis emphasizes
the dynamic relative transverse deflection, or the stopping distance, of th
e liquid crystal display, which is taken to be a thin elastic plate element
, under random acceleration excitations. The expressions of the mean value
and the autocorrelation function of the relative transverse deflection of t
he plate element are derived for stationary stochastic process acceleration
excitations, and some statistical quantities are discussed, As a numerical
example, a portable computer product under an idealized white noise statio
nary random acceleration excitation is analyzed, and some numerical results
of the statistical quantities, such as the autocorrelation function and th
e standard deviation, are presented. According to our analysis, to decrease
the random dispersion of the relative transverse deflection (stopping dist
ance) of the plate element, both the viscous damping coefficients of the pl
ate and its support should be over designed, but with that of the plate bei
ng larger than that of the support, In practice, it is possible to select p
roper support materials and correctly design the mounting of the chassis to
meet this requirement, because comparing to the liquid crystal display, th
e mounting of the chassis is easier to design for. With a normal distributi
on assumption for the relative transverse deflection, the maximum possible
relative transverse deflections (stopping distances) of the plate element a
re obtained, at chosen confidence levels, which can be used as a preliminar
y check for designing a similar portable computer product.