VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF RECTANGULAR MINDLIN PLATES RESTING ON ELASTIC EDGE SUPPORTS

For the first time to the authors' knowledge, the problem of free vibr ation of a moderately thick rectangular plate with edges elastically r estrained against transverse and rotational displacements is considere d. The Ritz method combined with a variational formulation and Mindlin plate theory is used. The admissible functions consist of polynomials and basic functions that impose the required boundary conditions on t he Mindlin plate. The applicability of the formulation is illustrated using three examples of plates with different combinations of elastica lly restrained edges and classical boundary conditions. Numerical resu lts are obtained to investigate the effects of elastic spring stiffnes s, relative thickness and aspect ratio upon the natural frequencies of flexural vibration of rectangular Mindlin plates. (C) 1997 Academic P ress Limited.