VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF SYMMETRICALLY LAMINATED THICK RECTANGULAR-PLATES USING THE HIGHER-ORDER THEORY AND P-RITZ METHOD

The free vibration analysis of symmetrically laminated thick rectangul ar plates is examined. The p-Ritz method is employed in which sets of uniquely defined polynomials are used as tile admissible trial displac ement and rotation functions. The energy integral expressions of the l aminates are derived by incorporating the shear deformation using Redd y's higher-order plate theory [J. Appl. Mech. ASME 51, 745-752 (1984)] . The formulation is basically applicable to rectangular laminates wit h any combination of free, simply supported, and clamped boundary cond itions. To evaluate the validity and to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, a series of free vibration analyses of laminat ed composite plates is reported. Wherever possible, the accuracy of th is analysis is validated through comparison with available results. Ef forts are made to interpret the results to preside physical insight to the problem. (C) 1997 Acoustical Society of America.