New Analytic Free Vibration Solutions of Rectangular Thick Plates With a Free Corner by the Symplectic Superposition Method

Abstract

Seeking analytic free vibration solutions of rectangular thick plates without two parallel simply supported edges is of significance for an insight into the performances of related engineering devices and structures as well as their rapid design. A challenging set of problems concern the vibrating plates with a free corner, i.e., those with two adjacent edges free and the other two edges clamped or simply supported or one of them clamped and the other one simply supported. The main difficulty in solving one of such problems is to find a solution meeting both the boundary conditions at each edge and the condition at the free corner, which is unattainable using a conventional analytic method. In this paper, for the first time, we extend a novel symplectic superposition method to free vibration of rectangular thick plates with a free corner. The analytic frequency and mode shape solutions are both obtained and presented via comprehensive numerical and graphic results. The rigorousness in mathematical derivation and rationality of the method (without any predetermination for the solutions) guarantee the validity of our analytic solutions, which themselves are also validated by the reported results and refined finite element analysis.