Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Analysis of natural frequencies of composite plates

by an RBF-pseudospectral method
a,* b
A.J.M. Ferreira , G.E. Fasshauer
a
Departamento de Engenharia Mecnica e Gesto Industrial, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto,
Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
b
Department of Applied Mathematics, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago 60616, USA

Available online 21 February 2006

Abstract

A study of free vibration of symmetric composite plates is presented. The analysis is based on an innovative numerical scheme, where
collocation by radial basis functions and pseudospectral methods are combined to produce highly accurate results. Numerical results are
presented and discussed for various thickness-to-length ratios.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Radial basis functions; Pseudospectral methods; Free vibration; Composite plates

1. Introduction
Vibration of thick and thin composite plates is an
important subject in the design of mechanical, civil and
aerospace applications. The thickness of most parts of
composite plates makes the transverse shear and the rota-
tory inertia not negligible as in classical theories. Therefore
the first-order shear deformation theory for plates should
be considered in general analysis.
The analysis of free vibration of isotropic and composite
plates is best performed by numerical techniques. The dif-
ferential quadrature method [1–3], the boundary character-
istic orthogonal polynomials [4] and the pseudospectral
method [5] were used in recent years. The finite element
method also proved to be very adequate for this type of
problems. The number of references is too large to list here.
More recently the free vibration analysis of Timoshenko
beams and Mindlin plates by Kansa’s non-symmetric
radial basis function (RBF) collocation method was per-
formed by Ferreira [6–13].
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 22 957 8713; fax: +351 22 953 7352.
E-mail addresses: ferreira@fe.up.pt (A.J.M. Ferreira), fasshauer@
iit.edu (G.E. Fasshauer).
In the present work we illustrate for the first time the
application of the combination of radial basis functions
and pseudospectral methods to the eigenvalue analysis of
symmetric composite plates. The method proves to be ele-
gant and of very high quality when compared to analytical
solutions and Kansa’s collocation method.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 our
approach to pseudospectral methods is discussed. In Sec-
tion 3 the free vibration of symmetric composite plates
are presented and results discussed in Section 4. Finally
conclusions are presented in Section 5.
2. The pseudospectral method
Based on recent work by Fornberg, Schaback and oth-
ers establishing a close connection between radial basis
function and polynomial interpolants (see, e.g., [14–16])
various authors have suggested using RBFs in ‘‘pseudo-
spectral mode’’ to solve partial differential equations
(PDEs) (see, e.g., [17–21]).
There are several potential advantages when using RBFs
instead of traditional polynomial methods. First, RBFs
allow us to work with irregular grids, and on domains
exhibiting irregular geometries. And secondly, it has been

0263-8223/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2005.12.004
 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210
shown that, while the limiting case of flat RBFs leads to
polynomial interpolants, one can actually achieve more
accurate results with RBFs that have not quite converged
to their polynomial limit (see, e.g., [14,15]). Thus, RBF-
PS methods are potentially more flexible and more accu-
rate than polynomial methods.
Since we presented a fairly detailed exposition of the
RBF-PS method in our recent paper [19] we will only give
a brief introduction here. More details about the RBF-PS
method can be obtained from either [18,19] or any of the
other papers mentioned above.
The starting point for the RBF-PS method is the repre-
sentation of (the spatial part of) the approximate solution
uh of a given PDE by a linear combination of smooth
(radial) basis functions /j, j = 1, . . . , N, i.e.,
X
N
uh ðxÞ ¼ cj /j ðxÞ; x 2 Rd ;
j¼1
where /j(x) = U(kx  xjk) with a single univariate basic
function U. For the numerical experiments in this paper
we used the inverse multiquadric
1 L ¼ AL A1 .
UðrÞ ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi .
2
1 þ ðrÞ
This function is infinitely smooth and positive definite on
Rd . As pointed out above, the shape parameter  can be
used to influence the accuracy of the numerical method.
The (flat) limiting case  ! 0 usually corresponds to a poly-
nomial, and a small (positive) shape parameter usually
yields the best accuracy (however, at the cost of low numer-
ical stability). How to find this ‘‘optimal’’ shape parameter
remains an open research question.
An important feature of pseudospectral methods is the
fact that one usually is content with obtaining an approx-
imation to the solution on a discrete set of grid points
X ¼ fxi ; i ¼ 1; . . . ; N g. One of several ways to implement
the pseudospectral method is via so-called differentiation
matrices, i.e., one finds a matrix L such that at the grid
points xi we have
uL ¼ Lu.
Here u = [uh(x1), . . . , uh(xN)]T is the vector of values of uh at
the grid points and uL ¼ ½Luh ðx1 Þ; . . . ; Luh ðxN ÞT , where
L is the (spatial) linear differential operator of the PDE
under consideration. The differentiation matrix L can be
interpreted as a discretized differential operator that maps
function values to ‘‘derivative values’’ on the computa-
tional grid X.
An expression for the differentiation matrix L of (3) can
be obtained in two steps. First, we evaluate (1) at the grid
points xi, i = 1, . . . , N. This results in
X
N
uh ðxi Þ ¼ cj /j ðxi Þ; i ¼ 1; . . . ; N ;
j¼1
or in matrix-vector notation
203
u ¼ Ac; ð5Þ
T
where c = [c1, . . . , cN] is the coefficient vector, the evalua-
tion matrix A has entries Aij = /j(xi), and u is as before.
Next, we apply the (linear) differential operator L to
(1). This leads to
X
N
Luh ðxÞ ¼ cj L/j ðxÞ. ð6Þ
j¼1
If we again evaluate at the grid points xi then we get in ma-
trix-vector notation
uL ¼ AL c; ð7Þ
where uL and c are as above, and the matrix AL has entries
AL;ij ¼ L/j ðxÞx¼xi .
It is now straightforward to obtain the desired formula
for L. We simply solve Eq. (5) for c and substitute the
ð1Þ
result into (7). This gives us
uL ¼ AL A1 u; ð8Þ
so that the differentiation matrix L corresponding to (3) is
of the form
ð9Þ
ð2Þ
We enforce boundary conditions directly by manipulat-
ing the corresponding rows of L as described, e.g., in [22].
This results in a modified differentiation matrix LC. As
pointed out in [18,19] invertibility of the differentiation
matrix LC is equivalent to the invertibility of the system
matrix for Kansa’s non-symmetric RBF collocation method,
and thus to be treated with care (since certain rare point
configurations exist for which the matrix may be singular).
3. Free vibration analysis of symmetric laminated plates
In this paper we consider a laminated plate of length a,
width b and thickness h, with the coordinate system at the
midplane of the laminate. We also consider that each layer
of the laminate is orthotropic with respect to the x- and y-
axes and all layers are of equal thickness. Each layer direc-
tion is defined by the angle with the x-axis. The modulus of
ð3Þ elasticity for a layer parallel to fibres is E11 and the modu-
lus of elasticity for a layer perpendicular to fibres is E22.
The displacement field in the first-order shear deforma-
tion theory (FSDT) considers rotations hx(x, y) and hy(x, y)
about the y- and x-axes that are independently interpolated
due to uncoupling between inplane displacements and
bending displacements for symmetrically laminated plates,
and can be expressed as
uðx; y; zÞ ¼ u0 ðx; yÞ þ zhx ðx; yÞ; ð10Þ
vðx; y; zÞ ¼ v0 ðx; yÞ þ zhy ðx; yÞ; ð11Þ
wðx; y; zÞ ¼ w0 ðx; yÞ; ð12Þ
where u, v and w are the displacements in the x-, y- and z-
ð4Þ
directions, respectively, u0, v0 and w0 are the corresponding
midplane displacements, and hx and hy are the rotations in
the xz- and yz-planes.
204 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210
8 9 2 38 9
The Green–Lagrange strain tensor is defined as >
> rxx >
> Q11 Q12 Q16 0 0 > exx >
> >
>
> >
> 6 7>> > >
>
> r > 0 7> eyy >
ou < yy >= 6 Q
6 12
Q22 Q26 0
7
>
< >
=
x ¼ ; ð13Þ sxy ¼ 6 0 7 ð25Þ
ox > > 6 Q16 Q26 Q66 0 7> xy >.
c
>
> >
> 6 7> >
ov > syz >
> > 4 0 0 0 Q44 Q45 5>>
> cyz >
>
>
y ¼ ; ð14Þ >
: >
; : >
> ;
oy szx 0 0 0 Q45 Q55 czx
ou ov Now we evaluate the bending and shear stiffness compo-
xy ¼ þ ; ð15Þ
oy ox nents, respectively, Dij and Aij, as
ou ow Z h
2
xz ¼ þ ; ð16Þ ðAij ; Dij Þ ¼ ð1; z2 ÞQij dz. ð26Þ
oz ox h2
ov ow
yz ¼ þ . ð17Þ Note that because of the laminated scheme the integral
oz oy
should be replaced by a summation across the thickness
Although it would be easy to consider general laminates, direction.
we only consider in this paper symmetric laminates. There- The equations of motion for the free vibration of
fore we can disregard contributions of u0, v0 and strains can laminated plates [23,24] can be expressed by the dynamic
be expressed as version of the principle of virtual displacements as

ohx o2 hx o2 hy o2 hy o2 hx o2 hx
x ¼ z ; ð18Þ D11 2
þ D16 2 þ ðD12 þ D66 Þ þ 2D16 þ D66 2
ox ox ox oxoy oxoy oy
   
ohy o2 hy ow ow o2 hx
y ¼ z ; ð19Þ þ D26 2  kA45 hy þ  kA55 hx þ ¼ I2 2 ; ð27Þ
oy oy oy ox ot
  o2 hx o2 hy o2 hx o2 hy o2 hx
ohx ohy D16 2
þ D66 2 þ ðD12 þ D66 Þ þ 2D26 þ D26 2
xy ¼ z þ ; ð20Þ ox ox oxoy oxoy oy
oy ox    
o2 hy ow ow o2 hy
þ D22 2  kA44 hy þ  kA45 hx þ ¼ I2 2 ; ð28Þ
ow0 oy oy ox ot
xz ¼ hx þ ; ð21Þ     
ox o ow ow
kA45 hy þ þ kA55 hx þ
ow0 ox oy ox
yz ¼ hy þ . ð22Þ     
oy o ow ow o2 w
kA44 hy þ þ kA45 hx þ ¼ I0 2 ; ð29Þ
oy oy ox ot
Neglecting rz for each layer, the stress–strain relations
in the orthotropic local coordinate system can be expressed where k is the shear correction factor, and Ii are the mass
as inertias defined as [23]
8 9 2 38 9 Z h Z h
2 2
>
> r1 >> Q11 Q12 0 0 0 > > e1 > > I0 ¼ q dz; I 2 ¼ qz2 dz. ð30Þ
> >
> > 6 7>> > > h2 h2
>
> r >
> 6 Q Q 0 0 0 7 >
> e >
>
< = 6 12
2 22
7< =
2
6
s12 ¼ 6 0 0 Q33 0 7
0 7 c12 ; ð23Þ Here q and h denote the density and the total thickness of
>
> >
> 6 7>> >
> the composite plate, respectively. The bending moments
>
> s >
> 4 0 0 0 Q 0 5 >
> c >
>
>
> 23 > 44 > 23 >
: > ; : >
> ; Mx, My and Mxy and the shear forces Qx and Qy are ex-
s31 0 0 0 0 Q55 c31 pressed as functions of the displacement gradients and
the material constitutive equations by
where subscripts 1 and 2 are respectively the fibre and the  
normal to fibre inplane directions, 3 is the direction normal ohx ohy ohx ohy
M x ¼ D11 þ D12 þ D16 þ ; ð31Þ
to the plate, and the reduced stiffness components, Qij are ox oy oy ox
 
given by ohx ohy ohx ohy
M y ¼ D12 þ D22 þ D26 þ ; ð32Þ
ox oy oy ox
E1 E2  
Q11 ¼ ; Q22 ¼ ; Q12 ¼ m21 Q11 ohx ohy ohx ohy
1  m12 m21 1  m12 m21 M xy ¼ D16 þ D26 þ D66 þ ; ð33Þ
ð24Þ ox oy oy ox
E2    
Q33 ¼ G12 ; Q44 ¼ G23 ; Q55 ¼ G31 ; m21 ¼ m12 ; ow ow
E1 Qx ¼ kA55 hx þ þ kA45 hy þ ; ð34Þ
ox oy
in which E1, E2, m12, G12, G23 and G31 are material proper-    
ow ow
ties of the lamina. Qy ¼ kA45 hx þ þ kA55 hy þ . ð35Þ
ox oy
By performing an appropriate coordinate transforma-
tion, the stress–strain relations in the global x–y–z coordi- For free vibration problems we assume harmonic solution
nate system can be obtained as [23] in terms of displacements w, hx, hy in the form
 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210 205

wðx; y; tÞ ¼ W ðx; yÞeixt ; ð36Þ method. We consider various stacking sequences, bound-
hx ðx; y; tÞ ¼ Wx ðx; yÞe ; ixt
ð37Þ ary conditions and thickness-to-side ratios. We consider
ixt
both square and rectangular plates. In order to compare
hy ðx; y; tÞ ¼ Wy ðx; yÞe ; ð38Þ with other sources, eigenvalues are expressed in terms
where x is the frequency of natural vibration. Substituting of the non-dimensional frequency parameter x,  defined
the harmonic expansion into the equations of motion (27)– as
(29) we obtain the following equations in terms of the sffiffiffiffiffiffi
amplitudes W, Wx, Wy 2 qh
2
 ¼ ðxb =p Þ
x ;
o2 Wx o2 Wy o2 Wy o2 Wx o2 Wx D0
D11 2
þ D16 2
þ ðD12 þ D66 Þ þ 2D16 þ D66
ox ox ox oy ox oy oy 2
2     where
o Wy oW oW
þ D26  kA45 Wy þ  kA55 Wx þ
oy 2 oy ox D0 ¼ E22 h3 =12ð1  m12 m21 Þ.
2
¼ I 2 x Wx ; ð39Þ
Also, a constant shear correction factor k = p2/12 is used
o2 Wx o2 Wy o2 Wx o2 Wy o2 Wx
D16 þ D 66 þ ðD 12 þ D 66 Þ þ 2D 26 þ D 26 for all computations.
ox2 ox2 ox oy ox oy oy 2
2     The examples considered here are limited to thick sym-
o Wy oW oW metric cross-ply laminates with layers of equal thickness.
þ D22  kA44 Wy þ  kA45 Wx þ
oy 2 oy ox The material properties for all layers of the laminates are
¼ I 2 x2 Wy ; ð40Þ identical:
    
o oW oW
kA45 Wy þ þ kA55 Wx þ
ox oy ox E11 =E22 ¼ 40; G23 ¼ 0:5E22 ; G13 ¼ G12 ¼ 0:6E22 ;
    
o oW oW m12 ¼ 0:25; m21 ¼ 0:00625.
þ kA44 Wy þ þ kA45 Wx þ ¼ I 0 x2 W . ð41Þ
oy oy ox
The boundary conditions for an arbitrary edge with simply We consider SSSS (simply supported on all boards)
supported, clamped or free edge conditions are as follows: and CCCC (clamped on all boards) boundary conditions,
for their practical interest. It is important to mention that
(a) Simply supported with this method it is very easy to include any type of
• SS1, w = 0; Mn = 0; Mns = 0. essential or natural boundary conditions. However both
• SS2, w = 0; Mn = 0; hs = 0. essential and natural boundary conditions must be
(b) Clamped, w = 0; hn = 0; hs = 0. included.
(c) Free, Qn = 0; Mn = 0; Mns = 0. The convergence
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffistudy of frequency parameters
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for three-ply (0/90/0) simply
x
In previous equations, the subscripts n and s refer to the supported SSSS rectangular laminates is performed in
normal and tangential directions of the edge, respectively; Table 1, while the corresponding convergence study for
Mn, Mns and Qn represent the normal bending moment, CCCC rectangular laminate is performed in Table 2. It
twisting moment and shear force on the plate edge; hn can be seen that a faster convergence is obtained for
and hs represent the rotations about the tangential and nor- higher t/b ratios irrespective of a/b ratios. In both SSSS
mal coordinates at the plate edge. The stress resultants on and CCCC cases the results converge well to Liew [25]
an edge whose normal is represented by n = (nx, ny) can be results.
expressed as The effect of thickness-to-length ratio on the fundamen-
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi
tal frequency parameters x  ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for a
M n ¼ n2x M x þ 2nx ny M xy þ n2y M y ; ð42Þ simply supported square four-ply laminate (0/90/90/0)
M ns ¼ ðn2x  n2y ÞM xy  nx ny ðMy  MxÞ; ð43Þ is examined in Table 3. Our present solution considers
inverse
pffiffi multiquadrics with a shape parameter  ¼
Qn ¼ nx Qx þ ny Qy ; ð44Þ N pðffiffiN Þ=80. For thinner plates we consider  ¼
hn ¼ nx hx þ ny hy ; ð45Þ N ðN Þ=120. The reason for this is that the problem
hs ¼ nx hy  ny hx ; ð46Þ becomes more ill-conditioned and we need higher accuracy
(given by a lower shape parameter). Present solutions
where nx and ny are the direction cosines of a unit compare very well with those of Reddy and Phan [26]
normal vector at a point at the laminated plate boundary who used a higher-order shear deformation theory and
[23,24]. Liew [25] who used a p-Ritz solution. Present results show
very small deviation only for very thick laminates. The
4. Results for composite plates effect of thickness in the fundamental frequencies is clearly
shown here.
Here we analyze the natural frequencies and vibration In Tables p 4–6 we ffi investigate frequency parameters
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
modes of laminated composite plates by the RBF-PS  ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for three-ply, five-ply and eight-
x
206 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210

Table 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for three-ply (0/90/0) simply supported SSSS rectangular laminates
Convergence study of frequency parameters x
Modes
a/b t/b Grid 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 0.001 13 · 13 6.6228 9.4368 16.3957 25.1363 25.5315 26.4889 30.4345 38.2722
15 · 15 6.6257 9.4519 16.2876 25.1185 26.4952 26.6441 30.2880 37.7580
17 · 17 6.6260 9.4435 16.2246 25.1124 26.4925 26.6477 30.3251 37.7661
19 · 19 6.6180 9.4368 16.2192 25.1131 26.4938 26.6667 30.2983 37.7850

Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 6.6252 9.4470 16.2051 25.1146 26.4982 26.6572 30.3139 37.7854
0.20 11 · 11 3.5934 5.7683 7.3968 8.6870 9.1442 11.2077 11.2217 12.1160
13 · 13 3.5934 5.7683 7.3969 8.6870 9.1444 11.2078 11.2218 12.1161
15 · 15 3.5934 5.7683 7.3968 8.6870 9.1444 11.2078 11.2218 12.1162
17 · 17 3.5934 5.7683 7.3968 8.6870 9.1444 11.2078 11.2218 12.1161
19 · 19 3.5934 5.7683 7.3968 8.6870 9.1444 11.2078 11.2218 12.1162

Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 3.5939 5.7691 7.3972 8.6876 9.1451 11.2080 11.2225 12.1166
2 0.001 13 · 13 2.3790 6.6162 6.7161 9.4318 14.4301 14.4846 15.9727 16.3840
15 · 15 2.3511 6.6368 6.7586 9.4973 14.1298 14.4600 16.0620 16.5252
17 · 17 2.4262 6.5945 6.6310 9.3494 14.3323 14.5476 16.1477 16.1968
19 · 19 2.3670 6.6331 6.6691 9.4676 14.2921 14.3915 16.1009 16.1009
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 2.3618 6.6252 6.6845 9.4470 14.2869 16.3846 16.1347 16.2051
0.20 13 · 13 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4849 5.7683 7.1168 7.3964 8.5969
15 · 15 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4851 5.7683 7.1170 7.3970 8.5969
17 · 17 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4851 5.7683 7.1170 7.3969 8.5969
19 · 19 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4851 5.7683 7.1170 7.3968 8.5969
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 1.9393 3.5939 4.8755 5.4855 5.7691 7.1177 7.3972 8.5973

Table 2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for three-ply (0/90/0) clamped CCCC rectangular laminates
Convergence study of frequency parameters x
Modes
a/b t/b Grid 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 0.001 13 · 13 14.2138 17.669 25.5193 38.0121 39.3376 40.7548 48.8639 70.8403
15 · 15 14.6918 18.4741 26.9611 37.6121 39.3560 40.9241 48.9940 52.2651
17 · 17 14.5866 17.4065 24.5479 35.3335 39.1869 41.4113 44.3108 53.0840
19 · 19 14.8138 17.6181 24.1145 36.0900 39.0170 40.8323 44.9457 49.0715
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 14.6655 17.6138 24.5114 35.5318 39.1572 40.7685 44.7865 50.3226
0.20 13 · 13 4.4465 6.6418 7.6995 9.1848 9.7377 11.3990 11.6434 12.4655
15 · 15 4.4465 6.6420 7.6995 9.1848 9.7377 11.3990 11.6435 12.4655
17 · 17 4.4467 6.6418 7.6995 9.1848 9.7376 11.3990 11.6434 12.4654
19 · 19 4.4463 6.6419 7.6995 9.1839 9.7376 11.3994 11.6420 12.4651
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 4.4468 6.6419 7.6996 9.1852 9.7378 11.3991 11.6439 12.4658
2 0.001 13 · 13 4.9869 10.0330 13.1204 15.1032 19.9742 24.6265 28.9221 33.0874
15 · 15 5.0970 10.4052 10.6097 14.3575 18.4830 18.9482 19.7608 21.1550
17 · 17 2.4262 6.5945 6.6310 9.3494 14.3323 14.5476 16.1477 16.1968
19 · 19 2.3670 6.6331 6.6691 9.4676 14.2921 14.3915 16.1009 16.1009
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 2.3618 6.6252 6.6845 9.4470 14.2869 16.3846 16.1347 16.2051
0.20 13 · 13 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4849 5.7683 7.1168 7.3964 8.5969
15 · 15 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4851 5.7683 7.1170 7.3970 8.5969
17 · 17 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4851 5.7683 7.1170 7.3969 8.5969
19 · 19 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4851 5.7683 7.1170 7.3968 8.5969
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 1.9393 3.5939 4.8755 5.4855 5.7691 7.1177 7.3972 8.5973

ply rectangular laminates with SSSS and CCCC bound- do not compare with other sources, but readers can verify
ary conditions. We consider the first eight frequency that present results are in very close agreement with results
parameters with various aspect and thickness ratios. We of Liew [25].
 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210 207

Table 3 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for a simply supported square four-ply laminate (0/
Effect of thickness-to-length ratio on the fundamental frequency parameters x
90/90/0)
t/b 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.10 0.20 0.25 0.50
Reddy and Phan [26] 6.578 6.475 6.330 6.196 5.708 5.355 3.854 3.331 1.956
Liew (p-Ritz) [25] 6.606 6.549 6.338 6.193 5.677 5.311 3.807 3.295 1.929
Present results 6.6012 6.5438 6.3300 6.1844 5.6641 5.2960 3.7903 3.2796 1.9180

Table 4 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for three-ply (0/90/0) rectangular laminates with SSSS and CCCC boundary conditions
Frequency parameters x
Modes
B.C. a/b t/b 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
SSSS 1 0.001 6.6226 9.5306 16.4255 21.6731 25.0307 26.5070 30.4155 37.7401
0.050 6.1365 8.8846 15.1061 19.3527 20.6609 24.0653 24.3377 31.0194
0.100 5.1652 7.7549 12.9129 13.0478 14.3735 17.7849 19.4998 21.0501
0.150 4.2741 6.6657 9.4875 10.8227 10.8246 13.8027 14.6650 15.5895
0.200 3.5934 5.7683 7.3968 8.6870 9.1444 11.2078 11.2218 12.1162
2 0.001 2.3511 6.6368 6.7586 9.4973 14.1298 14.4600 16.0620 16.5252
0.050 2.3221 6.1361 6.4785 8.8835 12.1487 13.5782 13.9489 15.1050
0.100 2.2210 5.1652 6.0163 7.7547 9.0208 10.7943 11.8480 12.9126
0.150 2.0848 4.2741 5.4428 6.6656 6.8683 8.5950 9.4871 10.0820
0.200 1.9387 3.5934 4.8750 5.4852 5.7683 7.1170 7.3965 8.5969
CCCC 1 0.001 14.6918 18.4741 26.9611 37.6121 37.6121 39.3560 40.9241 48.9940
0.050 10.9530 14.0235 20.3851 23.1953 24.9771 29.2354 29.3618 36.2616
0.100 7.4107 10.3930 13.9124 15.4281 15.8046 19.5706 21.4885 21.6199
0.150 5.5481 8.1467 9.9039 11.6209 12.0249 14.6439 14.9106 16.1227
0.200 4.4465 6.6420 7.6995 9.1848 9.7377 11.3990 11.6435 12.4655
2 0.001 5.0970 10.4052 10.6097 14.3575 18.4830 18.9482 19.7608 21.1550
0.050 4.7775 8.8358 9.8448 12.5070 14.7012 17.3208 17.6708 19.4302
0.100 4.1407 6.6158 8.3534 9.8939 9.9660 12.4394 13.6617 14.1197
0.150 3.5395 5.1811 6.9263 7.4236 7.9354 9.5758 9.8560 11.2299
0.200 3.0452 4.2481 5.7916 5.9042 6.5347 7.6885 7.7280 9.1754

Table 5 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for five-ply (0/90/0/90/0) rectangular laminates with SSSS and CCCC boundary conditions
Frequency parameters x
Modes
B.C. a/b t/b 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
SSSS 1 0.001 6.6184 13.7442 23.0420 26.4671 28.1753 36.6880 49.1036 51.1558
0.050 6.2237 12.6569 18.2915 21.5864 24.0215 29.9092 33.5073 35.5265
0.100 5.3966 10.5241 12.7094 15.6520 17.9089 20.4687 21.3551 22.4384
0.150 4.5811 8.5751 9.4002 11.8834 13.6241 14.3910 15.9159 16.1283
0.200 3.9130 7.0803 7.4027 9.4679 10.8185 11.0526 12.5098 12.5295
2 0.001 3.4097 6.5120 12.2291 13.3916 13.7545 18.1865 23.0930 26.8986
0.050 3.3605 6.2233 11.3460 11.5708 12.6562 16.1365 18.2891 21.5903
0.100 3.1641 5.3966 8.8821 9.4992 10.5239 12.7089 12.7125 15.6531
0.150 2.9041 4.5811 6.9230 7.7835 8.5750 9.3999 10.0334 11.8838
0.200 2.6310 3.9130 5.6097 6.4529 7.0802 7.4024 8.1431 9.2173
CCCC 1 0.001 14.4337 18.7244 35.8179 40.9718 40.9718 52.5993 66.2199 66.2199
0.050 11.5785 18.5068 22.6809 27.0134 29.4758 35.5447 36.4352 39.3569
0.100 8.1664 12.9490 13.9913 17.2787 19.5291 21.1658 22.6652 23.4906
0.150 6.1120 9.5821 10.0141 12.4715 14.1885 14.7616 16.2923 16.5381
0.200 4.8279 7.5339 7.7699 9.7082 11.0603 11.2888 12.6459 12.7084
2 0.001 7.5611 11.1165 17.4333 19.2374 21.3109 24.2316 31.9367 36.4012
0.050 6.9345 9.8001 14.7794 15.9510 17.4812 20.7812 20.9977 25.6764
0.100 5.6265 7.4626 10.3319 11.5057 12.5413 13.7094 14.4607 17.0595
0.150 4.4909 5.7694 7.7193 8.6345 9.3846 9.9550 10.7071 12.3089
0.200 3.6566 4.6327 6.1015 6.8399 7.4233 7.7551 8.4255 9.4919
208 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210

Table 6 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ¼ ðxb2 =p2 Þ ðqh=D0 Þ for eight-ply (0/90/0/90)s rectangular laminates with SSSS and CCCC boundary conditions
Frequency parameters x
Modes
B.C. a/b t/b 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
SSSS 1 0.001 6.6148 15.8073 21.6703 26.4531 33.4402 40.1156 47.8620 50.6101
0.050 6.2674 14.1850 17.6952 22.0135 26.9372 31.9240 32.7265 35.3623
0.100 5.5034 11.3234 12.6366 16.0976 18.9226 20.4521 22.1297 22.7706
0.150 4.7051 8.9701 9.4599 12.1654 13.9935 14.4859 16.2275 16.3827
0.200 4.0244 7.2832 7.4848 9.6364 10.9642 11.1554 12.6481 12.6977
2 0.001 3.9453 6.5314 12.6020 14.6609 15.8207 19.3743 21.7475 26.6222
0.050 3.8359 6.2669 11.2255 13.1511 14.1843 17.1091 17.6923 22.0172
0.100 3.5462 5.5033 8.8411 10.4566 11.3232 12.6361 13.3045 16.0987
0.150 3.1859 4.7051 6.9870 8.2568 8.9700 9.4595 10.3572 11.9633
0.200 2.8308 4.0244 5.6928 6.6929 7.2832 7.4845 8.3223 9.3078
CCCC 1 0.001 14.5934 25.3037 33.9140 40.4159 47.1988 56.2557 66.2642 67.6171
0.050 11.8554 19.9841 22.5157 27.7837 31.9119 36.0981 37.3787 39.6694
0.100 8.4047 13.4640 14.1032 17.6385 20.2179 21.2564 23.2322 23.7684
0.150 6.2450 9.8065 10.0991 12.6436 14.4547 14.8657 16.5204 16.7072
0.200 4.9015 7.6548 7.8286 9.8091 11.1745 11.3751 12.7501 12.8238
2 0.001 8.6914 11.5251 17.4447 22.9715 24.8652 26.8336 34.4222 34.4222
0.050 7.7628 10.2038 14.7821 17.8081 19.0746 20.7354 21.9484 26.4059
0.100 6.0089 7.6943 10.4473 12.1039 13.0527 13.7684 14.8664 17.3496
0.150 4.6604 5.8836 7.7948 8.8785 9.5957 10.0226 10.8841 12.3855
0.200 3.7366 4.6899 6.1484 6.9648 7.5326 7.8082 8.5232 9.5582

The results show that frequency parameters decrease
with increasing a/b ratio. These data also show that an
increase in thickness ratio results in decreasing of frequency
parameters. This is due to the effects of shear deformation
and rotary inertia. These effects are more pronounced in
higher modes. Also higher frequencies are obtained with
CCCC boundaries, as expected because higher constraints
produces higher frequencies.
The present method produces very stable and well
defined frequency modes, as shown in Figs. 1–3. The
eigenmodes for the other examples have similar
characteristics.

Fig. 1. Mode shapes (1–9) for three-ply (0/90/0) simply supported SSSS square laminates, a/b = 1, t/b = 0.2, 15 · 15 nodal grid.
 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210 209

Fig. 2. Mode shapes (1–9) for three-ply (0/90/0) clamped CCCC square laminates a/b = 1, t/b = 0.2, 15 · 15 nodal grid.

Fig. 3. Mode shapes (1–9) for three-ply (0/90/0) simply supported SSSS rectangular laminates a/b = 2, t/b = 0.2, 15 · 15 nodal grid.

5. Conclusions conditions for symmetric laminated composite plates were

presented. Numerical results were presented and discussed
A study of free vibration of isotropic and composite for various thickness-to-length ratios. The analysis is based
plates was presented. Equations of motion and boundary on an innovative numerical scheme, where collocation by
210 A.J.M. Ferreira, G.E. Fasshauer / Composite Structures 79 (2007) 202–210
radial basis functions and pseudospectral methods are
combined to produce highly accurate results. This method
allows the use of non-rectangular geometries and promotes
a more flexible framework for pseudospectral methods.
Various aspect ratios, thickness ratios and boundary condi-
tions were considered for isotropic and various types of
laminates. The present method showed very high accuracy
for both isotropic and composite plates.
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