European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejmsol

Vibro-acoustic behavior of an isotropic plate with arbitrarily varying thickness

P. Jeyaraj
Design Division, School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology University, Vellore, Tamil nadu 632 014, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents numerical simulation studies on the vibro-acoustic characteristics of an isotropic
Received 22 December 2009 square plate with six different types of unidirectionally, arbitrarily varying thickness. Finite Element
Accepted 30 May 2010 Method (FEM) is used to predict the free and forced vibration characteristics while Boundary Element
Available online 9 June 2010
Method (BEM) is used to predict the sound radiation characteristics. It is found that influence of taper
ratio on mode shapes are significant. The resonant amplitude is influenced by changes in mode shapes
along with excitation location. The influence of taper ratio and excitation location is significant on overall
sound power level except for increasing-decreasing thickness variation. It is found that resonant ampli-
tude and overall sound power level behavior is same for both linear and parabolic variation.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction vibration using an analytical method gives exact solutions.

Generally, variable thickness is used to alter the resonant
frequency and to reduce size and weight of a structure. The intro-
duction of variable thickness will make the structure become stiffer/
slender and it will influence the dynamic characteristics of the
structure. Several researchers carried out free vibration analysis of
plates with variable thickness. Appl and Byers (1965) were the early
researchers to investigate the fundamental frequency of a rectangular
plate having a linear thickness variation in one direction using an
analytical method. Plunkett (1963) investigated the free vibration
behavior of linearly varying tapered rectangular cantilever plates
experimentally and found that mode shapes of plates of non-uniform
thickness have complex modes. Raju (1966) determined natural
frequencies and node patterns for clamped and simply supported
square plates of linearly variable thickness experimentally. Kuttler
and Sigillito (1983) presented an analytical method for computing
lower and upper bounds for vibrational frequencies of clamped plates
having linear tapers with general boundary conditions.
Roy and Ganesan (1995) investigated the dynamic response of
an isotropic square plate with linear or parabolic thickness varia-
tion in one direction. They investigated the effects of thickness
variation on natural frequencies, dynamic displacements and
stress. Bert and Malik (1996) carried out free vibration analysis of
isotropic and orthotropic plates having unidirectionally non-
uniform thickness using differential quadrature method. Akiyama
and Kuroda (1977) analyzed rectangular plates with two opposite
simply supported edges and linearly varying thickness only in one
direction for their fundamental natural frequencies of transverse
Sakiyama and Huang (1998) proposed an approximate method for
analyzing the free vibration of thin and moderately thick rectan-
gular plates with arbitrary variable thickness. Huang et al. (2005)
developed a discrete method for analyzing the free vibration
problem of orthotropic rectangular plates with variable thickness.
They investigated the effects of boundary conditions,and thickness
variation on the natural frequency.
Prediction of sound radiation is important to control noise
generated from vibrating structures. Several researchers analyzed
sound radiation characteristics of isotropic/composite plates having
uniform thickness subjected to time-varying harmonic excitations.
Generally, output sound power level and radiation efficiency are
investigated to study the sound radiation characteristics of
vibrating structures. Boundary element technique has been widely
used to analyze the sound radiation from vibrating structure in
order to reduce the time and cost of computation (Tong et al., 2007;
Holmstrom, 2001).
The change in stiffness caused by the alteration of uniform thick
plate to variable thick plate will influence the dynamic character-
istics of the structure. It is important to predict the vibro-acoustic
behavior of structures with variable thickness. The major objective
of the present work is to investigate the vibration and acoustic
response characteristics of an isotropic square plate with different
types of variable thickness subjected to time-varying harmonic
excitations.
2. Analysis approach

FEM is used to obtain the free and forced vibration character-

E-mail addresses: jeyaraj.p@vit.ac.in, pjeyaemkm@gmail.com istics. Then the vibration response predicted using FEM is given as

0997-7538/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.euromechsol.2010.05.009
 P. Jeyaraj / European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094 1089

an input to BEM to obtain sound radiation characteristics. To start Table 2

with, modal analysis is carried out to find the natural frequency and Comparison of natural frequencies (Hz) with Li and Li (2008).

mode shapes of the structure by solving the eigen value problem as Modal indices (Li and Li, 2008) Present work
given below: (1,1) 87 87

 (2,1) 193 193
K
u2k M fk ¼ 0 (1) (1,2) 241 241
(2,2) 345 346
(3,1) 374 372
where, K is the structural stiffness matrix, M is the structural mass (1,3) 501 497
matrix, while uk is the circular natural frequency of the structure (3,2) 520 525
and fk the corresponding mode shape. (2,3) 600 604
After the computation of the natural frequencies and mode
shapes a harmonic response analysis is carried out to find the
vibration response of the structure. The general equation of motion using SYSNOISE. The plate is made of mild steel and assumed to
for a structure is be vibrating in air. Li and Li (2008) used four noded iso-para-
metric elements in their structural finite element model and
€ þ C U_ þ KU ¼ FðtÞ
MU (2) calculated sound power level using the Rayleigh integral. In the
where, [C] is the damping matrix, F(t) the applied load vector present work, the plate is modeled using SHELL 63 elements
€ U_ and U are the acceleration, velocity
(assumed time-harmonic), U, available in ANSYS. The computed natural frequencies are
and displacement vector of the plate. compared with those reported by Li and Li (2008) in Table 2. A
Boundary Element Method can be expressed in matrix for as harmonic excitation of 1 N is applied at the center of the plate
and a structural damping ratio of 0.01 for all modes is assumed
Hp ¼ iro uGv (3) for harmonic response analysis. The vibration response predicted
using ANSYS is given as an input to SYSNOISE where Indirect BEM
where H and G are boundary integral influence matrices, p and v are
is used to obtain sound power level of the plate. Fig. 1 show the
acoustic pressure and normal velocity of the boundary element
comparison of sound power level obtained using SYSNOISE with
nodes of the fluids respectively at the fluidestructure interface and
the results reported by Li and Li (2008). The modes corresponding
is density of the fluid.
to modal indices (2,1), (2,2) and (1,2) will not be excited as the
harmonic excitation force is at the center of the plate. Both the
3. Validation studies natural frequencies and sound power levels match very well with
those of Li and Li (2008).
3.1. Validation for natural frequency
4. Results and discussion
A simply supported mild steel square plate having a side of 1 m
and side/thickness ratio of 100 analyzed by Akiyama and Kuroda 4.1. Thickness variation
(1977) is considered. They used an analytical method to obtain
the fundamental natural frequency while present method uses A mild steel square plate clamped along its edges having a side
commercial finite element package ANSYS. The plate is modeled of 1 m is now considered for detailed investigation. Six different
using SHELL 63, a four noded quadrilateral linear structural shell variable thicknesses analyzed by Roy and Ganesan (1992) is
element, available in ANSYS element library. It is assumed that plate considered. Roy and Ganesan (1992) varied thickness of a plate in
thickness varies linearly in one direction and follow the relation h one direction by keeping other dimensions and its total mass
(x) ¼ h0(1
(c/a)x); h0 ¼ h(0), h1 ¼ h(a), c ¼ (h0
h1)/h0, (h0 > h1); a, remain unchanged. The type of thickness variation is shown in
qffiffiffiffiffi’x’ direction. Expression for fundamental
is the plate length in the Fig. 2, where thickness is varied linearly for cases I, III and V while
frequency parameter ð l*0 Þ given by Akiyama and Kuroda (1977) is thickness is varied parabolically for remaining cases.
qffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi The equations which are representing different types of thick-
l*0 ¼ rh*0 a4 u2 =D*0 (4) ness variation are

where, h0* ¼ (1 e c)h0, D0* ¼ (1 e c)3D0, D0 ¼ Eh30/12(1 e n2), c ¼ a/

(1 þ a); a is taper ratio. The results obtained using ANSYS matches
well with the results reported by Akiyama and Kuroda (1977) as
seen in Table 1.

3.2. Validation of sound radiation calculation

A simply supported isotropic rectangular plate with dimen-

sions 0.455 m  0.379 m  3 mm analyzed by Li and Li (2008) is
considered for the validation of sound power level calculation

Table 1 qffiffiffiffiffi
*
Validation of fundamental frequency parameter l0.
qffiffiffiffiffi
Taper ratio a Present (Akiyama and Kuroda, 1977) l*0
0.2 21.63835 21.69203
0.4 23.51257 23.60919
0.6 25.35646 25.49784
0.8 27.17547 27.36293
Fig. 1. Comparison of sound power level with Li and Li (2008).
1090 P. Jeyaraj / European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094

Table 3
Convergence study for natural frequencies (Hz).

Modal indices Mesh size

20  20 30  30 40  40 50  50 60  60
(1,1) 196 199 200 201 201
(1,2) 395 400 402 404 404
(2,1) 401 407 410 412 412
(2,2) 609 616 620 622 623
(3,1) 677 690 696 700 702

carried out for different values of n and results are given in Table 3;
mesh size of the plate is chosen as n  n. The plate is modeled as
50  50 based on the convergence study.

4.3. Free vibration studies

Modal analysis is carried out for six different thickness varia-

tions shown in Fig. 2 for different taper ration Hx in order to
investigate the influence of taper ratio on natural frequencies and
mode shapes. The variation of natural frequencies with taper ratio
for the different thickness variations are given in Table 4.
Fig. 2. Different variable thicknesses considered in the present study. From Table 4, it is clear that the fundamental natural frequency
is influenced by thickness at the clamped edges. The fundamental

x n  natural frequency increase/decrease when thickness at clamped
hx ¼ hmax 1
HX (5) edges increase/decrease. This can be clearly seen for the cases III
a
and IV where fundamental natural frequency increases with taper
   n  ratio. The natural frequency of modes, with odd wave number,
2x reduce with increase in taper ratio as stiffness reduce with taper
hx ¼ hmax 1
HX 1
abs 1
(6)
a ratio (second and fifth modes of all cases). But it is not true for the
cases V and VI where thickness at the center increases with taper
    ratio which leads to increase in natural frequency. This can be
2x n
hx ¼ hmax 1
HX  abs 1
(7) observed for third mode of cases V and VI. One can observe from
a
where hx is the thickness of plate at x-distance, n ¼ 1 for linear Table 4
Natural frequencies variation with taper ratio (Hx).
profiles, n ¼ 2 for parabolic profiles and Hx is the taper parameter
defined as HX ¼ ð1
hmin =hmax Þ: Case Mode Natural frequency (Hz)
Eqn. (5) represents decreasing thickness variation (case I), Eqn. Hx ¼ 0 Hx ¼ 0.25 Hx ¼ 0.5 Hx ¼ 0.75
(6) represents decreasing-increasing (cases III and IV) and Eqn. (7)
I I 224 179 176 165
represents increasing-decreasing thickness variation (cases V and II 456 364 355 325
VI). To keep the volume of the plate constant the following equation III 456 364 359 338
is solved. IV 673 538 531 506
V 819 651 624 549
Za II I 224 222 215 201
VOLUME ¼ h  a2 ¼ a  hx dx (8) II 456 450 436 404
III 456 456 446 412
0 IV 673 668 655 622
V 819 810 785 700
where h is the thickness of the uniform plate and hx is expressed in
terms of hmax and Hx. In the above equation values of h and a are III I 224 226 230 241
known and Hx is varied from 0 to 0.75 and then the value of hmax is II 456 440 418 390
III 456 465 470 463
calculated for each value of Hx. The value of Hx is restricted to 0.75
IV 673 672 662 622
as higher values of Hx results in zero or negative thickness. In the V 819 778 715 631
present work side of the plate is assumed as 1 m while thickness of
IV I 224 224 225 232
the uniform thickness plate is assumed as 25 mm. II 456 440 422 404
III 456 461 461 447
IV 673 670 660 633
4.2. Modeling of variable thick plate in ANSYS
V 819 778 724 659

In the present work, variable thick plates are modeled using V I 224 223 221 218
II 456 445 424 382
SHELL 63 element, a four noded quadrilateral structural shell
III 456 472 491 507
element available in the ANSYS element library. In ANSYS, plate IV 673 670 659 624
with variable thickness geometry is achieved by creating n number V 819 809 783 722
of areas with associated thickness as real constants. So, accuracy of VI I 224 221 217 211
the natural frequency prediction depends on the number of areas II 456 442 419 379
used to model the variable thick plate. Plate having parabolically III 456 470 484 494
decreasing thickness, case II of Fig. 2 with taper ratio 0.75 is IV 673 669 655 621
V 819 801 765 697
considered for convergence study. A convergence study has been
 P. Jeyaraj / European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094 1091

Table 5
Free vibration mode variation with taper ratio for CASE II plate (Thickness variation is in horizontal direction).

Mode Hx ¼ 0 Hx ¼ 0.25 Hx ¼ 0.5 Hx ¼ 0.75

II

III

IV

Fig. 3. Average rms velocity for excitation 1 of CASE II. Fig. 4. Average rms velocity for excitation 2 of CASE II.
1092 P. Jeyaraj / European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094
Fig. 5. Average rms velocity for mid excitation of CASE II.
Table 4, reduction in natural frequency is significant for linear
variation compared to parabolic variation. This is can be clearly
seen between the cases I and II. This is due to less stiffness asso-
ciated with parabolic thickness variation.
The variation of free vibration modes with taper ratio for
parabolically decreasing thickness (Case II) variation is shown in
Table 5. From the free vibration mode shapes of the different cases
analyzed, it is found that influence of taper ratio on free vibration
modes are significant and similar changes in mode shapes has been
observed for both linear and parabolic variation. From Table 5, it is
clear that taper ratio alters modal indices of anti-symmetric modes
(II, III and V modes) of the plate with uniform thickness while it
does not influence modal indices associated with symmetric modes
(I and V modes). For cases I to IV, as expected, anti-nodal position (I
and II modes) and nodal line perpendicular to the direction of
thickness variation (III mode) moves towards the clamped edge
associated with less thickness for a particular taper ratio. There is
no significant change in nodal lines which are parallel to the
direction of thickness variation (II and IV modes). (see Table 5).
4.4. Vibration response characteristics
The plate analyzed for its free vibration characteristics in the
previous section is now considered for vibration and acoustic
Fig. 6. Radiation efficiency for excitation 1 of CASE II.
Fig. 7. Sound radiation for excitation 1 of CASE II.
response characteristics under time-varying harmonic, mechanical
concentrated load excitations. The plate assumed to be vibrating in
air. Structural damping with a damping ratio of 0.01 for all modes is
assumed throughout the analysis. A frequency range of 0e1500 Hz
is chosen in order to investigate the vibration and acoustic response
characteristics for different variable thickness configurations. The
excitation frequency range is chosen based on the critical frequency
of the plate with uniform thickness analyzed, which is around
500 Hz. So 0e1500 Hz is chosen to analyze both sonic and subsonic
behavior of sound radiation for different variable thickness
configurations.
As mode shapes change with taper ratio the plate is excited at
three different locations, excitation location one at (0.7 m, 0.7 m),
two at (0.3 m, 0.3 m) from the lower left corner of the plate and
another one at the center of the plate separately. The excitation
locations are chosen in such a way that it should be on thin, thick
and center portion of the thickness variation. So influence of all
three excitations on vibration and acoustic response behavior has
been studied for Case I and Case II while it is analyzed for only two
excitations for remaining cases because of their symmetry in
boundary condition and thickness variation.
Harmonic response analysis, based on modal superposition
analysis is carried out for different cases by applying a 1 N load at
Fig. 8. Sound radiation for excitation 2 of CASE II.
 P. Jeyaraj / European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094 1093

chosen excitation location(s). As the natural frequency increase/

decrease with increase in taper ratio for various cases. The number
of modes to be extracted for the analysis is chosen based on the
number present in the chosen frequency range where taper ratio
0.75. Average rms normal velocity (which is directly related to
sound field generated) is obtained for each case to investigate
influence of taper ratio on vibration response. The average rms
normal velocity will represent the global vibration response
behavior of the plate.
For the plate with linear/parabolic decreasing thickness varia-
tion (Case I and II), resonant amplitude of the vibration response is
significantly influenced by the excitation location and mode shape
variation rather than the stiffness variation due to taper ratio. The
resonant amplitude increase/decrease when it is excited at slender/
thicker part of the thickness variation. This can be clearly seen in
the modes available in the frequency range 0e500 Hz shown in
Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. The movement of nodal and anti-nodal lines of
a mode also significantly influences the resonant amplitude along
with the excitation location. This can be clearly seen in the first
Fig. 9. Sound radiation for mid excitation of CASE II.

Fig. 10. Overall sound power level.

1094 P. Jeyaraj / European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids 29 (2010) 1088e1094
Table 6
Comparison overall sound power level (dB) with uniform thick plate.
Case Excitation 1 Excitation 2 Mid Excitation
Uniform plate 79 79 78
Case I 83 78 80
Case II 82 78 76
Case III 82 82 87
Case IV 81 81 87
Case V 78 78 76
Case VI 78 78 77
mode under mid excitation of Case II, movement of nodal line away
from the excitation location (Fig. 5).
For decreasing-increasing (Case III and IV) and increasing-
decreasing (Case V and VI) thickness variation, the resonant
amplitude does not affected significantly by taper ratio. This is due
to counter influence of stiffness (increase/decrease) and mode
shape variation (movement of nodal/anti-nodal lines) with taper
ratio.
4.5. Sound radiation characteristics
Sound power level and radiation efficiency are obtained based
on the vibration response in order to investigate the sound radia-
tion characteristics. In the present work, indirect BEM with the
baffled option available in SYSNOISE is used to obtain sound power
level and radiation efficiency for each case. Fig. 6 shows radiation
efficiency variation with excitation frequency and taper ratio for
Case II under excitation 1. The coincidence frequency for the plate
analyzed for Case II is around 600 Hz, and Fig. 6 shows a clear peek
around this frequency followed by an asymptotic unity, as expec-
ted. In Fig. 6, it can be clearly seen that the radiation efficiency
generally increases with taper ratio (no significant changes in low
frequency).
Figs. 7e9 shows the sound power level variation with taper ratio
for case II under excitation 1, excitation 2 and mid excitation
respectively. One can observe from Figs. 7e9 that the resonant
amplitude behavior of sound power level is similar to the vibration
response. Overall sound power level variation with taper ratio for
six different thickness variations are shown in Fig. 10. For cases I
and II, the overall sound power level increases (around 3 dB) with
taper ratio for excitation 1 while there is no significant change in
overall sound power level for excitation 2 and mid excitation. As the
plate becomes thin with increase in taper ratio its sound radiation
increases for excitation 1, vice-versa is true for mid and excitation 2.
For cases III and IV, the overall sound power level increases for
mid excitation (around 8e9 dB) while there is no significant change
in overall sound power level for excitation 1. The reduction in
thickness at the mid portion with increase in taper ratio makes
cases III and IV under mid excitation as a effective sound radiator.
However it is not true for excitation 1 as thickness increases with
taper ratio.
For cases V and VI, the overall sound power level does not
affected by taper ratio. There is a reduction in overall sound power
level but only about 1e2 dB. Increase in thickness at both the
excitation location chosen makes cases V and VI less effective sound
radiators.
Table 6 gives the comparison of overall sound power level of six
different thickness variations having taper ratio of 0.75 with
uniform thick plate. From Table 6, it is clear that sound power level
increases whenever the excitation location is on less thickness side.
This can be observed for cases IeIV under excitation 1 and case III
and IV under mid excitation. The overall sound power level reduces
marginally about 1e2 dB when excitation location on thick portion
of the thickness variation as seen in for case V and VI.
From Table 6 and Fig. 10, it is clear that variation of overall sound
power level with taper ratio for a particular case is similar for both
linear and parabolic variation. The changes in natural frequency
with taper ratio indicates that stiffness variation is significant for
linear variation compared to parabolic variation. But this does not
have any significant effect on resonant amplitude and overall sound
power level behavior. This indicates that vibration and acoustic
response is dominated by the significant changes happening in
mode shapes, which is same for both linear and parabolic variation.
5. Conclusion
The effect of taper ratio on the free/forced vibration behavior
and consequent sound radiation characteristics from an isotropic
plate with variable thickness is investigated. Average rms velocity,
output sound power level and radiation efficiency are computed for
different thickness variation cases in order to investigate vibration
and acoustic response characteristics by keeping taper ratio as
a parameter. It is observed that the taper ratio influences the mode
shapes in terms of shifting nodal and anti-nodal lines. It is found
that the resonant amplitude of both the vibration and acoustic
response is influenced by changes in the mode shapes along with
the excitation location. The overall sound power level is influenced
by both taper ratio and excitation location. There is no significant
variation in resonant amplitude and overall sound power level
behavior of plates with linear and parabolic variations. It is sug-
gested that plate with thickness variation of Case V and VI can be
used as an alternative to uniform thickness plate because of their
insensitive sound radiation behavior with different excitation
locations and taper ratio.
References
Akiyama, K., Kuroda, M., 1977. Fundamental frequencies of rectangular plates with
linearly varying thickness. Journal of Sound and Vibration 205, 380e384.
Appl, F.C., Byers, N.R., 1965. Fundamental frequency of simply supported rectangular
plates with linearly varying thickness. Journal of Applied Mechanics 32,
163e167.
Bert, C.W., Malik, M., 1996. Free vibration analysis of tapered rectangular plates by
differential quadrature method: a semi-analytical approach. Journal of Sound
and Vibration 190, 41e63.
Holmstrom, F., 2001. Structure-Acoustic Analysis Using BEM/FEM; Implementation
in MATLAB, Master’s Dissertation, Lund University.
Huang, M., Ma, X.Q., Sakiyama, T., Matuda, H., Morita, C., 2005. Free vibration
analysis of orthotropic rectangular plates with variable thickness and general
boundary conditions. Journal of Sound and Vibration 288, 931e955.
Kuttler, J.R., Sigillito, V.G., 1983. Vibrational frequencies of clamped plates of vari-
able thickness. Journal of Sound and Vibration 86, 181e189.
Li, S., Li, X., 2008. The effects of distributed masses on acoustic radiation behavior of
plates. Applied Acoustics 69, 272e279.
Plunkett, R., 1963. Natural frequencis of uniform and non-uniform rectangular
cantilever plates. Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 5, 146e156.
Raju, B.B., 1966. Vibration of thin elastic plates of linearly variable thickness.
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 8, 89e100.
Roy, P.K., Ganesan, N., 1992. Studies on the response of a square plate with variable
thickness excited by uniformly distributed load. Computers Structures 45,
593e603.
Roy, P.K., Ganesan, N., 1995. Studies on the dynamic behavior of a square plate with
varying thickness. Journal of Sound and Vibration 182, 355e367.
Sakiyama, T., Huang, M., 1998. Free vibration analysis of rectangular plates with
variable thickness. Journal of Sound and Vibration 216, 379e397.
Tong, Z., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Z., Hua, H., 2007. Dynamic behavior and sound trans-
mission analysis of a fluid-structure coupled system using the direct-BEM/FEM.
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 645e655.