INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING

Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868 (DOI: 10.1002/nme.590)

Application of a new di
erential quadrature methodology

for free vibration analysis of plates

G. Karami∗; † and P. Malekzadeh

Department of Mechanical Engineering; School of Engineering; Shiraz University; Shiraz 71345; Iran

SUMMARY
A new methodology is introduced in the di
erential quadrature (DQ) analysis of plate problems. The
proposed approach is distinct from other DQ methods by employing the multiple boundary conditions in
a di
erent manner. For structural and plate problems, the methodology employs the displacement within
the domain as the only degree of freedom, whereas along the boundaries the displacements as well as the
second derivatives of the displacements with respect to the co-ordinate variable normal to the boundary
in the computational domain are considered as the degrees of freedom for the problem. Employing such a
procedure would facilitate the boundary conditions to be implemented exactly and conveniently. In order
to demonstrate the capability of the new methodology, all cases of free vibration analysis of rectangular
isotropic plates, in which the conventional DQ methods have had some sort of diculty to arrive
at a converged or accurate solution, are carried out. Excellent convergence behaviour and accuracy in
comparison with exact results and=or results obtained by other approximate methods were obtained. The
analogous DQ formulation for a general rectangular plate is derived and for each individual boundary
condition the general format for imposing the given conditions is devised. It must be emphasized that
the computational e
orts of this new methodology are not more than for the conventional di
erential
quadrature methods. Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

KEY WORDS: di
erential quadrature method; free vibration; plates; fundamental frequencies

1. INTRODUCTION

Bellman and Casti [1] introduced the di
erential quadrature method (DQM) for the solution of
partial di
erential equations. The method was subsequently improved for the solution of non-
linear di
erential equations [2]. Bert and his co-workers (see for example References [3–8])
have employed the method for the analysis of solid mechanics and plate problems. On the
application of DQ to dynamics deformation analysis, the work of Gutierrez et al. [9], could
be probably recognized as one of the earliest works on the subject. An excellent survey
of the early DQM development and the recent works on the subject is given by Bert and
Malik [8].

∗ Correspondence
to: G. Karami, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University,
P.O. Box 642920, Pullman, WA 99164-2920, U.S.A.
† E-mail:
karami@mme.wsu.edu
Received 30 August 2001
Revised 12 February 2002
Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 20 March 2002
848 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

One troublesome point in the original application of DQM to structural problems has
been its diculty in imposing the boundary conditions for partial di
erential equations with
multiple boundary conditions. This is because the system of linear algebraic equations re-
sulting from the application of DQM became redundant after imposition of the boundary
conditions. In order to overcome this diculty, three di
erent methodologies were intro-
duced by researchers. The rst approach to be referred as the
-technique was developed
by Bert et al. [8], and can be found in the works of Sherbourne and Pandey [10], Farsa
et al. [11], Laura and Gutierrez [12], Gutierrez and Laura [35], Striz et al. [13], and Wang
[14]. Jang et al. [15] found that the
method is not equally successful for all structural
components with di
erent boundary conditions if
is not assumed very small. But on the
other hand, if
is taken too small, the solutions may show oscillations. Also, by applying
the method in practice, the introduction of two end grid points separated by a small dis-
tance
to represent the actual end points might cause erroneous behaviour for some cases.
This can be realized in the work of Striz et al. [13] on the application of the DQ ele-
ment method to static analysis of structures. In searching alternative solutions, Malik and
Bert [16] have extended the work of Wang and Bert [17] to implement the boundary con-
ditions in a di
erent manner from the
method by building them into the weighting coef-
cients for those cases that have not mixed derivatives. This method is limited to certain
types of boundary conditions and for general cases such as the free edge or curved edge
boundary conditions would fail. In a third methodology, the slope on the boundary is cho-
sen as an independent variable (see for examples, References [18–21, 37–39]). In all the
works that the slope is taken as a degree of freedom, the weighting coecients would have
been obtained by reformulating the di
erential quadrature rule. Except for some exceptions
in all these works, a direct linear solver was used to obtain the weighting coecients. The
weighting coecients obtained in a such a manner are thus exclusive and the freedom on
the determination of a major parameter a
ecting DQM accuracy [8] would be somehow
obstructed.
In the present methodology, the weighting coecients are not exclusive and any methods
that are used in the conventional DQM for evaluation of the weighting coecients may
be employed. For example, the generalized di
erential quadrature method (GDQM) that is
claimed to be the most computationally ecient and accurate [8, 34, 36, 37] can be easily
employed.
In the following, rst the GDQM is employed to obtain the weighting coecients. The
methodology would be introduced followed by analogous DQ formulation of plate problems
generally and for di
erent classes of boundary conditions. Finally, the DQM solution results
for free vibration analysis of rectangular thin isotropic plates for wide spectrum of boundary
conditions are exploited. It is worth mentioning here that the method has been successfully
applied to the analysis of beam problems (see Reference [22]).

2. REVIEW OF THE GENERALIZED DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHOD

The method of di
erential quadrature is based on the idea that the partial derivative of eld
variable at the ith discrete point in the computational domain is approximated by a weighted
linear sum of the values of the eld variable along the line that passes through that point
which is parallel with the co-ordinate direction of the derivative [23]. For example the 1st
and 2nd derivatives of a two-dimensional eld variable u(X; Y; t) with respect to X , and its

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 849

mixed derivative with respect to X and Y are approximated as

@u(X; Y; t)


NX

= A(X
ij u(Xj ; Y; t)
)
@X X =Xi j=1


@ u(X; Y; t)


2 
NX

= Bij(X ) u(Xj ; Y; t) (1)
@X 2
X =Xi j=1


@3 u(X; Y; t)

NX NY
= Bim Ajl u(Xm ; Yl ; t)
(X ) (X )
@X 2 @Y
X =Xi ; Y =Yj k=1 l=1

where A(Xij and Bij are the weighting coecients associated with the 1st, and 2nd derivatives
) (X )

with respect to X and Aij(Y ) is weighting coecients associated with the 1st derivatives with
respect to Y . NX and NY are the number of grid points in the X and Y directions, respectively.
A key point in the successful application of the di
erential quadrature method is how to
determine the weighting coecients. Among the methods that have been used to evaluate
the weighting coecients in di
erential quadrature methods (see Reference [8]) the method
developed by Shu and Richards [24] is claimed to be computationally more ecient and
accurate. In particular, this method does not impose any restriction on the number of grid
points and their distribution on the computational domain. The weighting coecients of the
rst-order derivatives in this method are determined as

 P(Xi )

 (X − X )P (1) (X ) for i
= j; i; j = 1; 2; : : : ; NX
 i j j
A(X )
ij = (2)

 
N X

− Aij
(X )
for i = j; i; j = 1; 2; : : : ; NX
j=1 i
=j

where, P(X ) and its derivative are dened as


NX 
NX
P(Xi ) = (Xi − Xj ); P (1) (Xi ) = (Xi − Xj )
j=1 j=1; j
=i

In order to evaluate the weighting coecients for higher order derivatives, a proposed re-
currence formula may be employed. For the second-order derivatives this formula may be
employed in the form of

1
Bij = 2Aij Aii −
(X ) (X ) (X )
for i; j = 1; 2; : : : ; NX ; i
= j (3)
(Xi − Xj )

3. THE NEW METHODOLOGY

A natural co-ordinate system (; ) for the computational domain is chosen, where 06; 61.
The displacement w, and the second derivative of the displacement with respect to natural
co-ordinate variable normal to the boundary, and only along the boundary, would be set as the
two degrees of freedom of the problem. For example along the boundary,  = 0,  = @2 w=@2
represents the second degree of freedom. Hence, in general, n (n =  or ) would play the

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
850 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

Y (y )

a
Ny

…
…
j xi , y j b
……
2
1
1 2 ..... i ...... Nx
X (x )

Figure 1. Grid points and the rectangular plate co-ordinate systems.

role of an unknown parameter on the boundary. In order to incorporate the new degrees of
freedom into di
erential equations and facilitate the boundary conditions implementation, the
higher order derivatives (derivative with order¿2) with respect to the coordinate system of
the actual domain would be expressed in terms of n (n =  or ) and also the displacement
w. To do so, and for irregular domains, a geometrical mapping transforms the actual do-
main into a rectangular domain. This process is identical to conventional nite element shape
function formulations used commonly in nite element modellings, that is, the co-ordinate
transformation law would be employed

NS 
NS
X= Xi i (; ); Y= Yi i (; ); i = 1; : : : ; NS (4)
i=1 i=1

where X and Y are the co-ordinate variable of actual domain, i (; ) is the shape functions
and NS is the number of grid points on each boundary of the domain. Using this transformation
the second-order derivatives in the two co-ordinate systems become related to each other in
a systematic manner. The detail of the procedure for irregular domains may be found in
Reference [25].
Another important point in successful application of DQM is how to distribute the grid
points. A natural and the simplest choice of the grid points through the computational domain
is equally spaced points in the co-ordinate directions of the computational domain. It is
demonstrated that non-uniform grid points usually yield better results than those of equally
spaced (see for example, References [26, 18]). The zeros of orthogonal polynomials are a
rational basis for the grid points. Shu and Richards [24] have used other choices which have
given a better result than the zeros of Chebyshev and Legendre [8]. The work presented here
is conned to rectangular plates; therefore, instead of ;  co-ordinates, x, y are chosen as
the natural co-ordinates of the plate dened simply as X=a and Y=b, where a and b are the
side lengths of the rectangular plate in x and y directions, respectively (see Figure 1). A set
of grid points with co-ordinates (xi ; yj ) is chosen according to

  
1 (i − 1) (j − 1)
(xi yj ) = 1 − cos 1 − cos (5)
2 Nx − 1 Ny − 1
where Nx and Ny are the grid points along x and y directions, respectively.

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 851

4. APPLICATION TO PLATE PROBLEMS

4.1. Governing equation and the related degrees of freedom

The general form of the governing equation of a rectangular isotropic plate expressed in
the form of a fourth-order di
erential equation in the natural co-ordinate system (x; y) is
expressed by



@2 @2 w 2 @ w
2
@ 2 @2 w 2 @ w
2
D 2 + + D 2
2
+
@x @x2 @y2 @y @x2 @y2

@2 w @2 w @2 w @2 w
+a N̂x 2 +  N̂y 2 + 2N̂xy
2 2
+ ka4 w + ha4 2 = a4 p(x; y; t) (6)
@x @y @x@y @t

where w, N̂x ; N̂y ; N̂xy and p(x; y; t) are the transverse displacement, in plane normal and shear
edge forces in x and y directions, and the intensity of transverse distributed loads, respectively.
 = a=b, where a and b are the side lengths along x and y, respectively. Also D; ; h and k are,
respectively, the exural rigidity (D =Eh3 =12(1 − 2 )), density, thickness and elastic sti
ness
of the support. To cast the above formulation into DQM, x and y are introduced as

@2 w @2 w
x = ; y = (7)
@x2 @y2

The superscripts are chosen to prevent any confusion with other notations in the DQ formula-
tions. Such a strategy of degrees of freedom denitions have been dened in boundary element
formulation of plate bending problems (see for example, Reference [27]). The fourth-order
partial di
erential equation (6) would thus be written as

@2 (x + 2 y ) 2 x 2 y
2 @ ( +   )
D +  D
@x2 @y2

@2 w @2 w
+ a2 N̂x x + 2 N̂y y + 2N̂xy + ka4 w + ha4 2 = a4 p(x; y; t) (8)
@x@y @t

The degrees of freedom are dened as w on the boundary and within the domain and x on
edges x = 0 or 1, and also y on edges y = 0 or 1.

4.2. DQ analogue of the plate governing equations

For the sake of generality, in the DQ analogues formulations of di
erent weighting coecients
in the x and y directions are chosen. The DQ analogue of Equation (8) may be obtained as



Nx Ny
 Ny
 
Nx
(x) x (y) x (y) y (x) y
D BIm mJ + 2
BJm Im + 4
BJm Im + 2
BIm mJ
m=1 m=1 m=1 m=1

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
852 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

 Ny
Nx 
x y @2 wIJ
+ a2 [N̂x IJ + 2 N̂y IJ + 2N̂xy AIm AJn wmn ] + ka4 wIJ + ha4
(x) (y)
m=1 n=1 @t 2

= a4 p(xI ; yJ ; t) for I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (9)

where Aij(x) , Bij(x) , Aij(y) and Bij(y) are the weighting coecients of the rst and second derivatives
in x and y directions, respectively. Nx , Ny are the grid points in x and y directions. In the new
methodology, x and y are taken as independent parameters only at the associated edges, i.e.
x on the edge x = 0 or 1 and y on the edge y = 0 or 1, can be regarded as the independent
degree of freedom. Within the domain, these unknown parameters will be expanded in terms
of the displacement components according to di
erential quadrature rule as

x 
Nx
IJ = BIm
(x)
wmJ
m=1
for I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (10)
Ny

y
IJ = BJm
(y)
wIm
m=1

Employing the above relations, the analogues DQ form of Equation (9) within the domain
grid points would be written as


N
x −1 
Nx Ny 
 Nx
D BIM BMn wnJ + 22
(x) (x)
BIm BJn wmn
(x) (y)
M =2 n=1 n=1 m=1

N Ny
y −1 
x (x) x y (y) y
+ 4
BJM BMn wIn
(y) (y)
+ BI(x)
1 1J + BIN 
x Nx J
+ 4 BJ(y)
1 I 1 + 4 BJN 
y INy
M =2 n=1


Nx Ny
  Ny
Nx 
+a 2
N̂x BIm
(x)
wmJ +  N̂y
2
BJm
(y)
wIm + 2N̂xy AIm AJn wmn
(x) (y)
m=1 m=1 m=1 n=1

@2 wIJ
+ ka4 wIJ + ha4
@t 2
= a4 p(xI ; yJ ; t) for I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (11)

Equation (11) is the general DQ form for plate bending problems. Deformation, stability as
well as free vibration analysis may be carried out based on these equations. In the work
presented here, only the free vibration of plate problems will be studied. Based on this mod-
elling, exclusive works on the stability and deformation analysis may be carried out. For free
vibration analysis of thin plates the governing Equations (11) then becomes

N
x −1 
Nx Ny 
 Nx
BIM BMn wnJ + 22
(x) (x)
BIm BJn wmn
(x) (y)
M =2 n=1 n=1 m=1

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 853

N Ny
y −1 
x (x) x
+ 4 BJM BMn wIn + BI(x)
(y) (y)
1 1J + BINx Nx J
M =2 n=1

y 2 (y) y ha4 !2
+ 2 BJ(y)
1 I 1 +  BJNy INy − wIJ = 0 (12)
D

Solving the above equations subject to the given boundary conditions yield the natural frequen-
cies of the plate under consideration. The boundary condition implementations are classied
into di
erent forms and will be described in detail in next section. Before then, one can easily
see that for the special cases of zero w, zero x and zero y , the boundary conditions may
be implemented in the governing equations themselves, i.e. Equation (9).

4.3. Boundary conditions implementations

In this section the DQ analogues based on the proposed methodology for each type of bound-
ary conditions would be presented. Before doing these, some important notes on the general
cases of classical boundary conditions should be mentioned:
(1) For simply supported and clamped boundary conditions along the edge x = 0 or 1, the
condition @2 w=@y2 = 0 should hold. The implementation of this constraint plays no role
in the solution because along this edge w = 0, and the expression of @2 w=@y2 would be
automatically zero. For simple support along y = 0 or 1 implementation would follow
the same rule.
(2) Zero slope boundary condition would be implemented through x (along the edges
x = 0 or 1) or y (along the edges y = 0 or 1 appropriately). For example along
the edges x = 0 or 1 if one has @w=@x = 0, this type of boundary condition might be
implemented as



mu @w


bxx J − Ab(x) = 0 for bx = 1 or Nx and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (13)
M =ml
xM
@x
(xM ; yJ )

In the above equation, for zero slope condition at edge x = 0, ml is set to 2 otherwise is set
to 1. For zero slope condition at edge x = 1, mu = Nx − 1, otherwise mu = Nx . Expanding the
slope term in the summation Equation (13) becomes


mu 
Nx
bxx J − Ab(x)
xM
AMn
(x)
wnJ = 0 for bx = 1 or Nx and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (14)
M =ml n=1

In a similar way, one can employ the zero slope condition for edge y = 0 or 1; the results
read

 Ny
mu 
y
Ib y
− Ab(y)
yM
A(y)
Mn wIn = 0 for by = 1 or Ny and I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 (15)
M =ml n=1

In the above equation, for zero slope condition at edge y = 0, ml is set to 2; otherwise it is
set to 1. For zero slope condition at edge y = 1, mu = Ny − 1; otherwise mu = Ny .

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
854 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

Simply supported boundary conditions:

Edges x = 0 or 1: w = 0, and @2 w=@x2 = 0.
The DQ analogues would then become
wbx J = 0
for bx = 1 or Nx and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (16)
bxx J = 0

Edges y = 0 or 1: w = 0 and @2 w=@y2 = 0.

DQ analogues:
wIby = 0
y for by = 1 or Ny and I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1: (17)
Ib y
=0

Clamped boundary conditions:

Edges x = 0 or 1: w = 0 and @w=@x = 0.
DQ analogues:
w bx J = 0
mu 
 Nx for bx = 1 or Nx and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (18)
bxx J − Ab(x)
xM
AMn
(x)
wnJ = 0
M =ml n=1

Edges y = 0 or 1: w = 0 and @w=@y = 0.

DQ analogues:
wIby = 0
y  Ny
mu  for by = 1 or Ny and I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 (19)
Ib y
− A(y)
by M AMn wIn = 0
(y)
M =ml n=1

Free boundary conditions:

Edges x = 0 or 1:
@2 w 2@ w
2
+  =0
@x2 @y2
(20)
@3 w 2 @ w
3
+ (2 − ) =0
@x3 @x@y2

DQ analogues:

Nx
bxx J + 2 BJm
(y)
wb x m = 0
m=1


Nx
Ab(x) x
x m mJ
for bx = 1 or Nx and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (21)
m=1

 Ny
Nx 
+ (2 − )2 Ab(x) B(y) wmn = 0
x m Jn
m=1 n=1

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 855

The second equation of (21) can be reformatted as

N
x −1 
Nx  Ny
Nx 
Ab(x) B(x) wnJ + (2 − )2
x m mn
Ab(x) B(y) wmn + Ab(x)
x m Jn
x + Ab(x)
x 1 1J
x = 0
x Nx Nx J
(22)
m=2 n=1 m=1 n=1

Edges y = 0 or 1:
@2 w @2 w
2 + 2 = 0
@y 2 @x
(23)
@3 w @3 w
2
+ (2 − ) =0
@y3 @y@x2
DQ analogues:

y 
Nx
2 Ib y
+ BIm
(x)
wmby = 0
m=1
Ny
 y
2 A(y)
by m Im for by = 1 or Ny and I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 (24)
m=1

 Ny
Nx 
+ (2 − ) Ab(y) B(x) wmn = 0
y n Im
m=1 n=1

The second equation in (24) may be reformatted as

N
y −1 
Ny  Ny
Nx 
2 (y) y y
2 A(y)
by m Bmn wIn + (2 − )
(y)
A(y)
by n BIm wmn +  Aby 1 1I +  Aby Ny INy = 0
(x) 2 (y)
(25)
m=2 n=1 m=1 n=1

Guided supports:
Edges x = 0 or 1:
@w
=0
@x
(26)
@3 w 2 @ w
3
+ (2 − ) =0
@x3 @x@y2
DQ analogues:


mu 
Nx
bxx J − Ab(x)
xM
AMn
(x)
wnJ = 0
M =ml n=1
N
x −1 
Nx
Ab(x) B(x) wnJ
x m mn
m=2 n=1 for bx=1 or Nx and J = 2; : : : ; Ny − 1 (27)
 Ny
Nx 
+ (2 − )2 Ab(x) B(y) wmn
x m Jn
m=1 n=1

+ Ab(x) x + Ab(x)
x 1 1J
x = 0
x Nx Nx J

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
856 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

Edges y = 0 or 1:
@w
=0
@y
(28)
2@ w @3 w
3
 + (2 − ) =0
@y3 @y@x2
DQ analogues:

 Ny
mu 
y
Ib y
− Ab(y)
yM
AMn
(y)
wIn = 0
M =ml n=1
N Ny
y −1 
2 A(y)
by m Bmn wIn
(y)
m=2 n=1 for by = 1 or Ny and I = 2; : : : ; Nx − 1 (29)

Nx Ny

+ (2 − ) Ab(y) B(x) wmn
y n Im
m=1 n=1

+ 2 Ayby 1 1I
y
+ 2 Ab(y) y = 0
y Ny INy

Corner boundary conditions:

For corners with two adjacent edges simply supported or clamped, the boundary conditions
are, w = 0, @2 w=@x2 = 0 and @2 w=@y2 = 0. As stated before the conditions on zero curvature,
i.e. @2 w=@x2 and @2 w=@y2 , are automatically satised. The DQ analogues of w = 0 becomes

wbx by = 0 for bx=1 or Nx and by=1 or Ny (30)

If two adjacent edges are free, then we have, @2 w=@x2 = 0, @2 w=@y2 = 0 and @2 w=@x@y = 0.
The DQ analogues of these constraints become

bxx by = 0
byx by = 0
for bx=1 or Nx and by=1 or Ny (31)

Nx 
Ny
Ab(x) A(y) wmn = 0
x m by n
m=1 n=1

Rigid corner point support:

Under rigid corner point support, the boundary conditions w = 0, @2 w=@x2 = 0
and @2 w=@y2 = 0 should hold. The DQ analogues of such equations become, respectively,

wbx by = 0
bxx by = 0 for bx = 1 or Nx and by = 1 or Ny (32)
byx by =0

In a similar way, for other cases of corner conditions DQ analogues may be implemented.

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 857

5. FREE VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF PLATE PROBLEMS

By rearranging the DQ form of the governing equation and also the related boundary condi-
tions, one has the assembled form of the analogue equations as
    
[Sbb ] [Sbd ] {Ub } { 0}
−! 2
={0} (33)
[Sdb ] [Sdd ] {Ud } { Ud }
where ! is the natural frequency of the plate. The grid points on the boundary usually have
two degrees of freedom, w and n , whereas, the domain grid points will have only one degree
of freedom, i.e. w. {Ub } represents the unknown boundary grid points values, whereas, {Ud }
represent the domain grid point unknowns. Thus, {Ub } and {Ud } will have generally the
form of
 

 {w } b 

 
x
{ Ub } = {  } b and {Ud } = {w}d (34)

 
 y  
{ }b

The subscript b represents the degree of freedom on the boundary and subscript d represents
the degree of freedom on the domain. By eliminating the boundary degrees of freedom from
the system of equations (33), one obtains a standard eigenvalue problem

[S]{Ud } = !2 {Ud } (35)

where [S] = [Sdd ] − [Sdb ][Sbb ]−1 [Sbd ]. The order of matrix [S] is the same as those of conven-
tional DQM, i.e. (Nx − 2) × (Ny − 2). Solving this standard eigenvalue problem, the natural
frequencies together with the mode shapes may be obtained.

6. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES

In order to demonstrate the eciency of the new DQ methodology for the dynamic analysis
of plate problems numerical examples are included here. The accuracy would be assessed by
solving free vibrations of a wide spectrum of rectangular plate congurations. In the analysis
the e
ects of the aspect ratio (a=b) are investigated. The plate geometrical boundary conditions
will be identied by Leissa’s [28] convention, for example, the symbolism C-S-C-F indicates
that the edges X = 0; Y = 0; X = a; Y = b, are clamped, simply supported, clamped and
free, respectively. In addition to classical boundary conditions, plates with at least one edge
guided support are considered. The boundary conditions are classied into three groups: (a)
classical boundary conditions, (b) point support boundary conditions and (c) guided boundary
conditions.

6.1. Plates with classical boundary conditions

The number of possible plate congurations having simply supported, clamped and free edges
are 21. The amount of published works on natural frequency analysis of rectangular plates

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
858 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

Table I. Convergence behaviour

 of non-dimensional fundamental frequency
(! = !a2 h=D) for S-C-S-S plate.

a=b

Nx = Ny 2=5 2=3 1 3=2 5=2

5 11.60748 15.3464 23.40834 42.48080 104.73433

7 11.73163 15.5564 23.61937 42.48168 103.80244
9 11.74812 15.5772 23.64576 42.52763 103.92326
11 11.75007 15.5782 23.64630 42.52780 103.92263
13 11.75022 15.5783 23.64632 42.52780 103.92265
15 11.75023 15.5783 23.64632 42.52780 103.92265
17 11.75023 15.5783 23.64632 42.52780 103.92265
19 11.75023 15.5783 23.64632 42.52780 103.92265
21 11.75023 15.5783 23.64632 42.52780 103.92265

Exact [28] 11.7502 15.5783 23.6463 42.5278 103.9226

is enormous. Among them, the work by Leissa [28] is perhaps the most complete one, in
which he has presented the frequency data for all the twenty-one congurations of rectangular
plates for the rst nine modes and for a wide range of aspect ratios. In Leissa’s work,
the frequencies of six plate congurations with a pair of opposite edges simply supported are
exact, as for such cases; the governing equation may be solved analytically. For the remaining
15 cases, the frequencies were obtained by Rayleigh–Ritz method using 36 terms (six each
in x- and y-directions) of the beam characteristic functions. One may note that the Leissa’s
solutions for these 15 cases which are based on trigonometric functions are not as accurate as
the solutions based on orthogonal polynomial with Rayleigh–Ritz method (see for example,
References [29, 30]). Here, the solutions by Leissa are employed to check the accuracy of
the present algorithm for all the 21 cases. Malik and Bert [16] have solved these cases by
conventional DQM. They have found that for the cases that at least a free corner is present
(with the exception of S-S-F-F), DQM has not any convergence trend (S-F-F-F and F-F-F-
F cases) or is subject to errors. In the examples considered, Poisson’s ratio is assumed to
be 0.3. For the analysis 15 grid points on each side are employed. In comparing the results
from present DQM for the six cases with a pair of opposite edges simply supported (S-S-S-S,
S-C-S-C, S-C-S-S, S-C-S-F, S-S-S-F and S-F-S-F) are almost perfect. The errors up to four
decimal points coincides with the exact solutions. Even using seven grid points on each side
would produce errors less than 1% for these cases. To show the solution convergency with
increasing number of grid points, the fundamental frequencies of one of theses cases, i.e. a
square plate with S-C-S-S boundary conditions with exact solutions and at di
erent aspect
ratios, are presented for di
erent number of grid points in Table I. Good accuracy with only
ve grid points in each side is achieved.
Numerical results for the remaining 15 cases are presented in Table II. They are compared
with those of Leissa solutions. The signicance of these di
erences is promising, as one
expects that the fundamental natural frequencies from Leissa are the upper bounds of the
exact fundamental frequencies.

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 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 859


Table II. Non-dimensional fundamental frequency (! = !a2 h=D) for simply support, clamped and
free boundary conditions without exact solution.
a=b
Sides Method
1234 and error 2=5 2=3 1 3=2 5=2

7 C-C-C-C Reference [28] 23.648 27.01 35.992 60.772 147.8

Present 23.6437 27.0049 35.9852 60.7611 147.7733
8 C-C-C-S Reference [28] 23.44 25.861 31.829 48.167 107.07
Present 23.4375 25.8522 31.8008 48.0818 106.7898
9 C-C-C-F Reference [28] 22.5078 22.92635 23.9117 26.6229 37.5609
Present 22.5083 22.9282 23.9228 26.6426 37.6497
10 C-C-S-S Reference [28] 16.849 19.952 27.056 44.893 105.31
Present 16.8475 19.95123 27.05412 44.8903 105.2970
11 C-C-S-F Reference [28] 15.696 16.287 17.615 21.035 33.578
Present 15.63122 16.21162 17.5358 20.96154 33.5243
12 C-S-C-F Reference [28] 22.544 22.855 23.460 24.775 28.564
Present 22.4789 22.7742 23.3676 24.6740 28.4610
13 C-S-S-F Reference [28] 15.5890 15.9977 16.8444 18.4670 23.00233
Present 15.5460 15.9553 16.7498 18.42805 22.9637
14 C-F-C-F Reference [28] 22.346 22.314 22.272 22.215 22.130
Present 22.2767 22.2241 22.1643 22.0889 21.9763
15 C-F-S-F Reference [28] 15.382 15.340 15.285 15.217 15.128
Present 15.31414 15.2562 15.1912 15.11308 15.0110
16 S-S-F-F Reference [28] 1.3201 2.2339 3.3687 5.0263 8.2506
Present 1.31956 2.2328 3.36705 5.02388 8.2472
17 S-F-F-F Reference [28] 2.6922 4.481 6.648 9.8498 14.939
Present 2.68909 4.4770 6.6437 9.8508 14.8119
18 F-F-F-F Reference [28] 3.4629 8.9459 13.489 20.128 21.643
Present 3.4326 8.9313 13.4682 20.0955 21.4539

Several other checks are made. In one case, for the second boundary type in Table II
(C-C-C-S), the results may be compared with those given by Mizusawa and Katija [31] and
Liew and Lam [32] with a=b = 25 . They have reported non-dimensional natural frequencies of
23.71 and 23.97, respectively. From Table II, one can see that the present solution is closer
to Liew and Lam solution, and smaller than Mizusawa and Katija results.
In another check, for a case of S-S-F-F square plate, the results from seven di
erent
approaches, including Leissa’s solution were given by Singh and Chakraverty [29]. The
solutions read 3.367 from four approaches and 3.292, 3.699 from the other approaches. The
present DQM solution is 3.36705.
The non-dimensional fundamental frequency for a square plate with F-F-F-F edges by
hierarchical nite element (HFEM) [30] was found to be 13.468, exactly equal to the solution
resulted by present DQM.
In Table III the convergence behaviour against the increasing number of grid points at each
side for two cases, a plate with two opposite edges simply supported and a plate with two
opposite edges clamped, are demonstrated. The results of the DQM method by Malik and
Bert [16] are also shown for one case.

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
860 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH


Table III. Convergence behaviour of the non-dimensional fundamental frequency (! = !a2 h=D)
of square plate without free corners.
Nx = Ny
7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21

1 S-C-S-F 12.6863 12.6873 12.6873 12.6873 12.6873 12.6873 12.6873 12.6873

2 C-S-C-F 23.3122 23.3717 23.3676 23.3673 23.3676 23.3679 23.3681 23.3683

method [16] 24.798 16.668 24.387 23.633 23.439 — — —


Table IV. Convergence of the non-dimensional frequencies (! = !a2 h=D) for
a rectangular plate with C-F-F-F edges (a=b = 2=5).
Mode sequence

Nx = Ny Method 1 2 3 4 5

Reference [28] 3.5107 4.7861 8.1146 13.882 21.5212

7 Present 3.610283 4.86427 8.15998 13.78939 19.33015

9 3.56083 4.818617 8.10431 13.787485 21.37172
11 3.53817 4.79932 8.08953 13.81816 21.40837
13 3.52586 4.78939 8.08198 13.81393 21.44376
15 3.51841 4.78354 8.07776 13.81059 21.46324
17 3.51355 4.77977 8.075151 13.80868 21.47627
19 3.51021 4.77719 8.07341 13.80747 21.48533
21 3.50782 4.77535 8.07219 13.80664 21.49185
23 3.50604 4.77398 8.07129 13.80606 21.49670
25 3.50469 4.77293 8.07061 13.80562 21.50040
27 3.50363 4.77211 8.07008 13.80528 21.50327

27 Reference [21] 3.49508 4.75839 8.05609 13.793 21.638

The studies on plates with free corners (except for the case of S-S-F-F) have shown either
a poor convergent behaviour or even erroneous results when using conventional DQM. A
more detailed analysis was carried out for the three cases, C-F-F-F, C-C-F-F and C-S-F-F.
The results for a series of aspect ratios are shown in Tables IV–IX. Number of grid points
have been increased from 5 to 29 and the convergency trend for a plate with aspect ratio of
2
5 are shown at each case of boundary condition. The converged results for a series of other
aspect ratios are shown in Table VII–IX. The results are also compared with those presented
by Wu and Liu [21]. It is claimed that the converged solutions would be more accurate. This
is because the accurate solutions must be somewhat smaller than those of Leissa’s solutions
which are supposed to be the upper bound exact solutions.
To demonstrate the convergency for the case of S-S-F-F the solutions are shown for in-
creasing numbers of Nx = Ny at di
erent aspect ratios in Table X.

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 861


Table V. Convergence of the non-dimensional frequencies (! = !a2 h=D) for
a rectangular plate with C-C-F-F edges (a=b = 2=5).
Mode sequence
Nx = Ny Method 1 2 3 4 5

Reference [28] 3.9857

7 Present 4.07655 7.17403 13.40829 20.2434 22.1106

9 4.0309 7.15211 13.10473 21.4917 22.5856
11 4.0099 7.1433 13.08534 21.65105 22.70077
13 3.99855 7.1386 13.0698 21.6716 22.7307
15 3.99173 7.1360 13.0609 21.68573 22.7477
17 3.9873 7.13438 13.055377 21.69506 22.7589
21 3.98206 7.13260 13.04899 21.70638 22.7722
23 3.98044 7.1320 13.04706 21.7100 22.77634
29 3.977846 7.13105 13.04356 21.71646 22.78387

28 Reference [21] 3.96126


Table VI. Convergence of the non-dimensional frequencies (! = !a2 h=D) for
a rectangular plate with C-S-F-F edges (a=b = 2=5).
Mode sequence
Nx = Ny Method 1 2 3 4 5

Reference [28] 3.8542

7 Present 3.95043 6.48723 11.56818 18.0751 22.02157

9 3.90302 6.4449 11.55924 19.7482 22.2336
11 3.881543 6.4285 11.54092 19.6590 22.2935
13 3.86996 6.4199 11.53476 19.66397 22.33443
15 3.86299 6.41491 11.5311 19.6616 22.3589
17 3.85845 6.4117 11.52886 19.6605 22.37504
21 3.85309 6.40798 11.5263 19.65935 22.39414
23 3.851431 6.406834 11.5255 19.65902 22.4000
29 3.8484 6.40474 11.52413 19.65845 22.410836

28 Reference [21] 3.84517

6.2. Plates with point supports

6.2.1. Rigid point supports at each corner. The solution to natural frequencies of plates
with point supports (see Figure 2) analytically becomes more complex. Misuzawa and
Kajita [31] have used Rayleigh–Ritz method with B-spline functions to study such prob-
lems. Hinton and Al-Janbi [33] have used a nine-node Mindlin plate-bending element and
Bardell [30] has used the HFEM for such analysis. No other DQM solution to these types of

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
862 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH


Table VII. The non-dimensional fundamental frequency (! = !a2 h=D) for the
rectangular plates with C-F-F-F edges.
Mode sequence
a=b Method Nx = Ny 1 2 3 4 5

2=3 Reference [28] 3.5024 6.4062 14.538 22.038 26.073

Present 27 3.4918 6.3916 14.4672 21.8939 25.8927
Reference [21] 27 3.4759 6.3490 14.4316 21.9302 25.9367

1 Reference [28] 3.4917 8.5246 21.429 27.331 31.111

Present 27 3.47711 8.50869 21.26330 27.19933 30.93827
Reference [21] 27 3.45503 8.43096 21.3070 27.1590 31.0159

3=2 Reference [28] 3.4772 11.676 21.618 39.492 53.876

Present 27 3.45946 11.65736 21.44354 39.31208 53.54810
Reference [21] 27 3.43180 11.5491 21.5082 39.4185 53.5260

5=2 Reference [28] 3.4562 17.988 21.563 57.458 60.581

Present 27 3.43400 17.96222 21.37417 57.20751 60.15646
Reference [21] 27 3.39349 17.8168 21.4564 57.3558 60.0485


Table VIII. The non-dimensional fundamental frequency (! = !a2 h=D) for the
rectangular plates with C-C-F-F edges.
Mode sequence
a=b Method Nx = Ny 1 2 3 4 5

2=3 Reference [28] 4.9848

Present 29 4.972240 13.22936 23.259416 30.12354 34.12125
Reference [21] 28 4.92662

1 Reference [28] 6.9421

Present 29 6.92461 23.8849 26.57178 47.62964 62.73759
Reference [21] 28 6.84178

3=2 Reference [28] 11.216

Present 29 11.1875 29.7661 52.3336 67.7779 76.7728
Reference [21] 28 11.08489

5=2 Reference [28] 24.911

Present 29 24.859284 44.56907 81.52229 135.72787 142.39917
Reference [21] 28 24.75787

plate problems were found. The solution here, therefore provides yet another opportunity to
assess both the ability of DQM to handling such problems and also to check the validity of
the new formulations. The rst ve natural frequencies for a square plate with all four cor-
ners on rigid supports are presented in Table XI. An excellent agreement with the results by

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 863


Table IX. The non-dimensional fundamental frequency (! = !a2 h=D) for
the rectangular plates with C-S-F-F edges.
Mode sequence
a=b Method Nx = Ny 1 2 3 4 5

2=3 Reference [28] 4.4247

Present 29 4.41664 10.8727 22.8343 25.57243 32.8343
Reference [21] 28 4.92662

1 Reference [28] 5.3639

Present 29 5.35466 19.07524 24.6540 43.07537 52.70963
Reference [21] 28 5.33538

3=2 Reference [28] 6.9309

Present 29 6.92005 27.26258 38.38705 64.036937 67.20529
Reference [21] 28 6.88924

5=2 Reference [28] 10.10

Present 29 10.08592 35.02869 74.67428 99.378125 127.21727
Reference [21] 28 10.04007


Table X. Convergence of the non-dimensional fundamental frequency (! = ! h=D)
for the rectangular plates with S-S-F-F edges.
Mode sequence

Nx = Ny 1 2 3 1 2 3

a=b = 2=5 a=b = 2=3

7 8.24757 29.61191 64.4463 2.2329 9.55017 16.6963
9 8.24726 29.56706 64.5150 2.2328 9.53946 16.66789
11 8.24725 29.56705 64.472684 2.2328 9.5394 16.66788
13 8.24725 29.56703 64.472683 2.2328 9.5394 16.66788
15 8.24725 29.56703 64.472683 2.2328 9.5394 16.66788

a=b = 1 a=b = 3=2

7 3.36712 17.3312 19.3146 5.02400 21.48788 37.5667

9 3.36704 17.3164 19.2928 5.02388 21.46363 37.5275
11 3.36705 17.3163 19.29290 5.02388 21.4637 37.5273
13 3.36705 17.3163 19.29290 5.02388 21.4637 37.5273
15 3.36705 17.3163 19.29290 5.02388 21.4637 37.5273

Misuzawa and Kajita [31] and also those of Bardell [30] was achieved. The negligible di
er-
ences between the results of Misuzawa, Kajita and Bardell with those of Hinton and Al-Janbi
[33] are due to the fact that the e
ects of shear deformation were neglected. The convergence
behaviour of the present algorithm seems to be excellent in the problem under consideration.

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
864 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH

Figure 2. A plate with rigid corner points Fp-Fp-Fp-Fp.


Table XI. Convergence of the non-dimensional frequencies (! = !a2 h=D)
for a square plates with Fp-Fp-Fp-Fp edges.
Mode sequence
Nx = Ny Method 1 2 3 4 5

5 Present 7.109626 15.802047 15.802047 18.697725 40.27336

7 7.110811 15.783945 15.783945 19.622753 38.58561
9 7.110886 15.770190 15.770190 19.59590 38.42856
11 7.110884 15.770243 15.770243 19.59614 38.43167
13 7.110884 15.770240 15.770240 19.59614 38.43154
15 7.110884 15.770240 15.770240 19.59614 38.43154
17 7.110884 15.770240 15.770240 19.59614 38.43154
19 7.110884 15.770240 15.770240 19.59614 38.43154
21 7.110884 15.770240 15.770240 19.59614 38.43154
25 7.110884 15.770240 15.770240 19.59614 38.43154

HFEM [30] 7.111 15.770 15.770 19.596 38.432

B- spline [31] 7.111 15.77 15.77 19.60 38.43
Mindlin [33] 7.101 15.74 15.74 19.59 38.43

One can see from this table that with ve grid points in each direction, which needs only the
eigenvalue analysis of a matrix of order nine only, would yield a very accurate solution to the
problem.

6.3. Plates with mixed supports

As another example, the non-dimensional fundamental frequency of a plate with mixed bound-
ary conditions is studied here. An interesting mixed boundary type problem, that is a square
plate with two adjacent edges clamped, and the opposing corner points supported, to be named
C-C-F-Fp (see Figure 3) was considered by Misuzawa and Kajita [31] and Bardell [30]. This
problem that represents a highly complex-type boundary condition can be easily and system-
atically solved by DQM and especially by the present methodology. As far as the results
are concerned good agreements have been achieved with the results by Misuzawa and Kajita
[31] and in special with those of HFEM by Bardell [30] (see Table XII). The stability and
convergence of the solution are evident.

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 865

Figure 3. A plate with one corner rigid (C-C-F-Cp).


Table XII. Convergence of the non-dimensional frequencies (! = !a2 h=D)
for a square plate with C-C-F-Fp edges.
Mode sequence
Nx = Ny Method 1 2 3 4 5

5 Present 15.16088 22.63074 36.99606 56.17258 75.29873

7 15.07471 23.54030 39.09471 54.64650 64.71265
9 15.11848 23.70400 39.20345 54.12835 63.06090
11 15.13470 23.77201 39.27778 54.128001 62.96384
13 15.14389 23.81033 39.31165 54.11005 62.88236
15 15.14952 23.83413 39.33187 54.10135 62.83535
17 15.15320 23.84984 39.34495 54.09638 62.80483
19 15.15571 23.86071 39.35392 54.09328 62.78392
21 15.15751 23.86850 39.36035 54.09119 62.76894
25 15.15984 23.87875 39.36873 54.08858 62.74940

HFEM [30] 15.165 23.903 39.388 54.085 62.705

B-spline [31] 15.12 23.70 39.37 53.53 62.54

6.4. Plates with guided supports

Free vibration of plates with guided (G) edges was rst studied by the method of DQ by Malik
and Bert [16]. Here, also in order to demonstrate the applicability of the new DQM for such
boundary conditions, all 17 possible cases of plates with at least one edges guided considered
by Malik and Bert would have come under investigation and the results are presented in
Table XIII. In order to show the convergence behaviour of the methodology, di
erent numbers
of grid points are adopted for each ve aspect ratios, but only the results for Nx = Ny = 7
and also Nx = Ny = 15 are cited. The results for Nx = Ny = 15 can be acknowledged as the
converged solutions of the method.

7. CONCLUSION

A new methodology for DQ analysis of plate problems was introduced. The method would
face no diculty in DQM boundary condition implementations. To assess the applicability,

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
866 G. KARAMI AND P. MALEKZADEH


Table XIII. Fundamental frequencies (! = !a2 h=D) for the rectangular
plates with one or more guided edges.
a=b
Boundary
type Nx = Ny Method 2=5 2=3 1 3=2 5=2

7 Present 10.2676 10.9768 12.3655 15.5019 25.5854

S-S-S-G 15 Present 10.26750 10.9682 12.3422 15.43616 25.3453
15 Reference [16] 10.26439 10.96623 12.33701 15.42126 25.29086

7 Present 10.33858 11.3507 13.67992 19.74062 41.176936

S-C-S-G 15 Present 10.34454 11.35735 13.68577 19.74589 41.184664
15 Reference [16] 10.34455 11.35736 13.68577 19.74590 41.18466

7 Present 9.809425 9.77314 9.731541 9.67439 9.58459

S-G-S-F 15 Present 9.809256 9.77565 9.73534 9.67922 9.58956
15 Reference [16] 9.80977 9.7763 9.73624 9.68035 9.59073

7 Present 9.8698 9.86968 9.86968 9.86968 9.86968

S-G-S-G 15 Present 9.869604 9.869604 9.869604 9.869604 9.869604
15 Reference [16] 9.86960 9.86960 9.86960 9.86960 9.86960

7 Present 22.29263 22.29263 22.29263 22.29263 22.29263

C-G-C-G 15 Present 22.37329 22.37329 22.37329 22.37329 22.37329
15 Reference [16] 22.37329 22.37329 22.37329 22.37329 22.37329

7 Present 15.46824 16.015714 17.11855 19.7286 28.7708

C-S-S-G 15 Present 15.67240 16.2113 17.29535 19.856384 28.71482
15 Reference [16] 15.71498 16.25197 17.33175 19.88128 28.69490

7 Present 2.92456 3.629495 5.018797 8.16636 18.27851

S-S-G-G 15 Present 2.87377 3.576180 4.950393 8.04640 17.96111
15 Reference [16] 2.86219 3.56402 4.9348 8.01905 17.88866

7 Present 5.820508 6.268913 7.26640 9.8654 19.29729

C-S-G-G 15 Present 5.819790 6.262609 7.243304 9.7901 19.02475
15 Reference [16] 5.81936 6.26090 7.233771 9.77231 18.96041

7 Present 22.5148 22.9218 23.75724 25.8075 33.48097

C-S-C-G 15 Present 22.59267 22.99487 23.8187 25.8380 33.3839
15 Reference [16] 22.59267 22.99377 23.81563 25.82839 33.34114

7 Present 2.81629 3.29394 4.07294 5.434137 8.42446

S-S-G-F 15 Present 2.769747 3.254323 4.040950 5.41023 8.409199
15 Reference [16] 2.7521 3.245333 4.03369 5.4048 8.40570

7 Present 2.502626 2.4863 2.46904 2.450467 2.43207

S-G-G-F 15 Present 2.451657 2.436076 2.41923 2.4008 2.382388
15 Reference [16] 2.444001 2.42458 2.40785 2.38954 2.37104

7 Present 2.480637 2.4572818 2.44022 2.4283 2.42042

S-F-G-F 15 Present 2.42921593 2.406385 2.389666 2.37800 2.370266
15 Reference [16] 2.41748 2.39476 2.37812 2.36651 2.35881

Copyright ? 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng 2003; 56:847–868
 NEW DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHODOLOGY 867

Table XIII. Continued.

a=b
Boundary
type Nx = Ny Method 2=5 2=3 1 3=2 5=2

7 Present 15.166377 15.166377 15.166377 15.166377 15.166377

C-G-S-G 15 Present 15.374648 15.374648 15.374648 15.374648 15.374648
15 Reference [16] 15.41821 15.41821 15.41821 15.41821 15.41821

7 Present 2.53185 2.53185 2.53185 2.53185 2.53185

S-G-G-G 15 Present 2.47938 2.47938 2.47938 2.47938 2.47938
15 Reference [16] 2.46740 2.46740 2.46740 2.46740 2.46740

7 Present 5.59224 5.59224 5.59224 5.59224 5.59224

C-G-G-G 15 Present 5.593321 5.593321 5.593321 5.593321 5.593321
15 Reference [16] 5.593326 5.59332 5.59332 5.59332 5.59332

7 Present 3.00872 6.094083 15.42885 15.42885 15.42885

S-G-F-G 15 Present 3.00815 6.09382 15.41821 15.41821 15.41821
15 Reference [16] 3.00815 6.09382 15.41821 15.418216 15.41821

7 Present 2.95099 3.8782 5.81355 10.2917 24.77071

S-C-G-F 15 Present 2.90145 3.82171 5.72406 10.10132 24.21996
15 Reference [16] 2.89012 3.8089 5.70387 10.05836 24.0954

accuracy and convergency of the methodology to dynamics problems, free vibration analysis
of plates under classical and complicated boundary conditions was carried out. Excellent to
very good results were obtained in all cases. In the new DQM the weighting coecients may
easily be obtained by the GDQM, which is more accurate, computationally ecient and with
no limitation on the number of grid points.

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