Free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with exponentially varying thickness

Abstract

The free transverse vibration characteristics of rectangular plates, including the effect of transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia, are presented. A method based on the variational procedure in conjunction with the finite difference technique is used to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes. The convergence characteristics of the present method are studied by varying the thickness parameter. The effects of the thickness parameter and taper thickness ratio on the variation characteristics are studied.