Loss Factor for a Rectangular Plate of Parabolic Thickness Variation

Abstract

The importance of the internal damping and of the evaluation of the fundamental mode loss factor of structural members subjected to multiaxial stress system is well known. A good amount of work is available on the elastic vibrations of ectangular plates of uniform thickness but it appears that little work has been done on vibrations of rectangular plates of variable thickness, though such cases are of interest in the aeronautical field since they approximate to wing sections. In the present work, the fundamental mode loss factors for a simply supported rectangular plate with parabolic thickness variation in X direction have been evaluated for different combinations of the aspect ratios and the taper parameters. An approximate relationship has been obtained which correlates the loss factor for the plate of variable thickness with that of a plate of uniform thickness.