Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed.

, 42(7), 999–1012 (2021)

APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS (ENGLISH EDITION)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-021-2746-8

Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using

micropolar elements∗

M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH1 , R. ANSARI2,† , M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE2 ,

M. BAZDID-VAHDATI2
1. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University Campus 2, University of Guilan,
Rasht 41447-84475, Iran;
2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht 3756, Iran
(Received Dec. 21, 2020 / Revised Apr. 15, 2021)

Abstract Based on the micropolar theory (MPT), a two-dimensional (2D) element

is proposed to describe the free vibration response of structures. In the context of the
MPT, a 2D formulation is developed within the ABAQUS finite element software. The
user-defined element (UEL) subroutine is used to implement a micropolar element. The
micropolar effects on the vibration behavior of 2D structures with arbitrary shapes are
studied. The effect of micro-inertia becomes dominant, and by considering the micropolar
effects, the frequencies decrease. Also, there is a considerable discrepancy between the
predicted micropolar and classical frequencies at small scales, and this difference decreases
when the side length-to-length scale ratio becomes large.
Key words finite element method (FEM), quadrilateral element, micropolar theory
(MPT), user-defined element (UEL) subroutine, free vibration
Chinese Library Classification O343, O242, O32
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 74S05, 70J30

1 Introduction
Since the classical continuum mechanics is not able to predict the characteristics of materials
with considerable micro-structure effects, several generalized theories of the non-classical
continuum have been developed to investigate the mechanical behavior of micro- and
nano-structures with size-dependent effects. Among them, the strain gradient[1–2] , couple
stress[3–5] , and nonlocal[6–7] theories can be mentioned. In the context of modified strain
gradient and couple stress theories, many researchers investigated the mechanical response
of micro-structures. Using the strain gradient theory, Lesičar et al.[8] presented a two-scale
computational approach at a microlevel. Other applications of these modified theories for
modeling of micro-structures have been reported in many research works (e.g., Refs. [9] and
[10]). In 1909, the concept of the micropolar theory (MPT) or Cosserat elasticity theory was
∗ Citation: KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, M., ANSARI, R., FARAJI-OSKOUIE, M., and
BAZDID-VAHDATI, M. Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using micropolar
elements. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition), 42(7), 999–1012 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-021-2746-8
† Corresponding author, E-mail: r ansari@guilan.ac.ir
c
°Shanghai University 2021
1000 M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, R. ANSARI, M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE, and M. BAZDID-VAHDATI

first introduced[11] . Based on this theory, at each material point of body, a rigid micro-structure
is considered, and each material particle has two translational degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) and
one additional DOF including micro-rotations.
The MPT is a theory for materials with polarization properties. According to Eringen’s
micro-continuum field theories[12–13] , the range of materials which can be modeled by the
MPT is very wide, including liquid crystals with rigid molecules[14] , bones[15] , composites[16] ,
bloods[17] , and porous[18] and rigid suspensions[19] . Calculating the elastic moduli of potassium
nitrate[20] , ferroelectric crystals and other crystals with polar phenomena can be mentioned
as other successful applications of the MPT[21–22] . Gauthier[23] determined the elastic moduli
of particulate composites consisting of aluminum particles dispersed in an epoxy resin matrix.
Also, Prakash and Sinha[24] developed a lubrication theory for incompressible micropolar fluids
with application to journal bearing.
The micromorphic theory (MMT) proposed in Refs. [25]–[29] can be applied for a group of
materials that exhibit some microscopic properties by considering the micro-structures and
micro-motions. These substances can support stress and body moments. Also, they are
influenced by the spin inertia. The MMT is mathematically complex, and finding solution
approaches for it may be difficult or impossible in several cases. Hence, to reduce the complexity
of the MMT, the known micropolar elasticity theory was proposed[25–26] . Contrary to the couple
stress theory (CST)[3] , in the MPT, when the vectors of deformation and micro-rotation are
recognized, all components of the asymmetric stress tensor are specified, and the motion of
the media is entirely described. It is necessary to mention that in the CST, the concept of
micro-rotation and the corresponding equations are not considered.
Eremeyev et al.[30] based on the linear MPT and the finite element method (FEM),
investigated an approach to modeling the static deformation of porous materials. Based on
the MPT, a boundary value problem in the elastic thin plates with constrained rotation was
studied[31] . A general model of the dynamic bending of isotropic micropolar elastic thin plates
with independent fields of displacements and rotations was presented[32] . By using a general
solution for the linear MPT, the frequency analysis of three-dimensional (3D) elastic plates
was performed by Wang[33] . Based on the finite element approach, the contact problem
in micropolar elasticity was studied in Ref. [34]. According to a non-classical finite element
approach, the non-linear mechanical behavior of micropolar plates was studied by Ansari et
al.[35] . Based on the MPT, Ansari et al.[36] introduced a non-classical 3D element to investigate
the free oscillation behavior of beams and plates. By applying the integral/differential nonlocal
MPT and FEM, the bending behavior of the small-scale Timoshenko beams was studied by
Faraji-Oskouie et al.[37] . Based on the non-linear micropolar continuum, Pietraszkiewicz and
Eremeyev[38] studied three various methods of defining the strain measures. Using the modified
couple stress and micro-structure-dependent beam theories, Li et al.[39] studied the dynamic
response of a functionally graded (FG) beam. In the context of the MPT and based on
the geometrically non-linear beam theories, Nampally and Reddy[40] studied the influence of
the coupling number and the bending characteristic length scale on the displacements and
micro-rotations of the Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beams.
In the framework of modified strain gradient theory, Akgöz and Civalek[41] studied the
size-dependent static bending, buckling, and vibration behaviors of sinusoidal plates. Based on
the hyperbolic shear deformation beam and modified strain gradient theories, the mechanical
responses of microbeams embedded in an elastic medium were studied[42] . By employing the
strain gradient elasticity theory, the effects of the additional length scale parameters on the
longitudinal vibration characteristics of microbars were investigated[43] . By using Eringen’s
differential law in conjunction with the Timoshenko beam theory, the dynamic instability of
viscoelastic porous FG nanobeams embedded on the three-parameter viscoelastic foundation
was studied[44] . By using the singularity function method, Demir and Civalek[45] investigated
the enhanced Eringen differential model in the case of static analysis of microbeams. In
 Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using micropolar elements 1001

the framework of modified strain gradient theory, the effects of transverse shear and normal
deformations on the vibration responses of FG microbeams were studied by Su et al.[46] .
In the present work, the finite element natural frequency analysis of two-dimensional (2D)
micropolar structures is presented by implementing a micropolar element. By using user-defined
element (UEL) subroutine, a 2D formulation for the micropolar continua is developed within
ABAQUS. The numerical analysis is conducted to investigate the micropolarity effects on the
vibration behavior and natural frequencies of 2D micropolar beams and plates with various
geometries. Then, the predicted frequencies of micropolar structures are compared to the
results of the classical theory (CT) of elasticity.

2 Linear MPT

The micropolar equations of motion are presented as[12,47]

div(e
σ ) + ρf = ρü, e + ρm − ² : σ
div(µ) e = ρj φ̈, (1)

where σ e is the stress tensor, and µe denotes the couple stress tensor. Also, f , m, u, and φ
denote the external body force, body couple, displacement vector, and micro-rotation vector,
respectively. In addition, ρ, j, and ² refer to the mass density, micro-inertia, and permutation
symbol, respectively. Also, the indicial form in the context of the Cartesian coordinate system
is presented below,

σij,j + ρfi = ρüi , µij,j + ρmi − ²ijk σjk = ρj φ̈i . (2)

With the MPT, the density of strain energy can be obtained as[25]
¡ ¢
c = 1 λtr2 (e
W ε) + (µ + κ)tr(eεεeT ) + µtr(e
ε2 ) + αtr2 (η)
e + βtr(ηe2 ) + γtr(ηeηeT )
2
1
= (λεii εjj + (µ + κ)εij εij + µεij εji + αηii ηjj + βηij ηij + γηij ηji ), (3)
2
where λ and µ are classical Lame coefficients, κ, α, β, and γ are the material constants of
micropolar solids, and εe and ηe are the linear micro-strain tensors, which can be expressed
as[26,38]
(
εe = grad(e
u) + ²φ, εij = ui,j + εijk φk ,
(4)
e
η = grad(φ), ηij = φi,j .

Using the density of strain energy, the relations of the stress tensor and the couple stress
tensor are obtained as[12,25–26]
c
∂W c
∂W
e=
σ , e=
µ . (5)
∂ε ∂η

Thus, the stress and couple stress tensors can be obtained as[12,47]

e = λtr(e
σ e)I + 2µe
e + κe
ε, µ e + β ηeT + γ η,
e = αtr(η)I e (6)

where I denotes the identity tensor. Also, e refers to the linear classical strain and is defined
as
1
e= (grad(u) + (grad(u))T ). (7)
2
1002 M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, R. ANSARI, M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE, and M. BAZDID-VAHDATI

Because of the asymmetry of the micro-strain in Eq. (4), σ e and µe are not symmetric either.
The relations of stress and couple stress tensors in the Cartesian coordinate system are written
as

σij = λekk δij + 2µeij + κεij , µij = αηkk δij + βηji + γηij . (8)

Based on the following relation for strain[38] :

1
eij = (εij + εji ), (9)
2
Eq. (8) is rewritten as

σij = Aijkl εkl , µij = Aijkl ηkl , (10)

in which Aijkl and Aijkl are the fourth-order tensors that are expressed as
(
Aijkl = λδij δkl + µ(δik δjl + δil δjk ) + κδik δjl ,
(11)
Aijkl = αδij δkl + βδil δjk + γδik δjl .

One can express Eq. (11) as follows:

σij = λεkk δij + (µ + κ)εij + µεji , µij = αηkk δij + βηji + γηij . (12)

Therefore, the strain energy density relation can be rewritten as

c = 1 (σij εij + µij ηij ) = 1 (Aijkl εij εkl + Aijkl ηij ηkl ).
W (13)
2 2
2.1 Matrix formulation
The density of strain energy can be expressed as

c = 1 (εT σ + η T µ),
W (14)
2
in which

ε = [ε11 ε22 ε12 ε21 ]T , η = [η31 η32 ]T , (15)

where

ε = EU + P φ, η = Eφ, (16)

and
· ¸
u
U = 1 , φ = φ3 ,
u2
 
0 · ¸ · ¸ · ¸
0 E1 ∂
0 ∂
0
 
P =  , E = , E1 = E = ∂x1
∂ , E2 = E ∂x2
∂ . (17)
1 E2 4×3 0 ∂x2 0 ∂x1
−1

Also, the stress and couple stress of the 2D linear micropolar solid can be expressed as

σ = [σ11 σ22 σ12 σ21 ]T , µ = [µ31 µ32 ]T . (18)

 Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using micropolar elements 1003

Therefore, the constitutive relations of the linear MPT can be expressed as

σ = Aε, µ = Aη, (19)

in which A and A represent the symmetric forms of micropolar material elastic constant
matrices
 
A1111 A1122 A1112 A1121 · ¸
A1122 A2222 A2212 A2221  A3132 A3132
A=   , A= . (20)
A1112 A2212 A1212 A1221  A3132 A3232 2×2
A1121 A2221 A1221 A2121 4×4

With considering Eq. (12), A and A are rewritten as below,

 
λ + 2µ + κ λ 0 0 · ¸
 λ λ + 2µ + κ 0 0  γ 0
A= 
, A= , (21)
0 0 µ+κ µ  0 γ
0 0 µ µ+κ

where A is symmetric, and

Eν E
λ= , 2µ + κ = 2G = . (22)
(1 + ν)(1 − 2ν) 1+ν
Therefore, the strain energy density is achieved as

c = 1 (εT Aε + η T Aη).
W (23)
2
With considering γ and C as the micro-strain vector and the matrix of elastic stiffness,
respectively, the density of strain energy can be rewritten as

c = 1 γ T Cγ,
W (24)
2
in which
· ¸ · ¸
ε A 0
γ= , C= . (25)
η 0 A

Thus, the vector of micro-strain is expressed as

e
γ = Eq, (26)

where
 
u1 · ¸ · ¸
q =  u2  , e= E
E
0
+ Pe , Pe =
0 P
. (27)
0 E1 0 0
φ3 6×3

Accordingly, the strain and kinetic energies are expressed, respectively, as

Z Z
1 c 1
W = W dV = γ T CγhdA, (28)
2 V 2 A
 
Z t2 Z Z ρ 0 0
1 t2
T dt = q̇ T ρq̇dAdt, ρ = 0 ρ 0  , (29)
t1 2 t1 A
0 0 ρj
1004 M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, R. ANSARI, M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE, and M. BAZDID-VAHDATI

where t denotes time, and h is the thickness. Also, the variational forms of strain and kinetic
energies are written, respectively, as
Z Z
1 e T C EqhdA
e e T C EqhdA
e
δW = δ qT E = δq T E = δq T f int , (30)
2 A A
Z t2 Z Z Z t2 Z
1 t2 T
δT dt = δ q̇ ρq̇dAdt = δqρq̈dAdt = δq T f inertia . (31)
t1 2 t1 A t1 A

From Hamilton’s principle, the variational relations of motion of the MPT can be written
as
Z t2
(δT − δW )dt = 0. (32)
t1

3 2D finite element analysis of MPT

The developed 2D element in this study is illustrated in Fig. 1. Each node of this element
has three DOFs including two displacements and one micro-rotation.

ξ2

4 3

ξ1
O

1 2
−1İξiİ1, i = 1, 2

Fig. 1 Micropolar element (color online)

With considering N as the shape function, the vector q for an element in the local coordinate
system can be discretized as

q = N d, (33)

e to the shape
where d is the nodal value vector. In addition, by substituting the operators E
function, the following matrix is introduced:

e .
B = EN (34)

Therefore, the micro-strain vector for the element can be obtained as

e d = Bd.
γ = EN (35)

As a result, the density of strain energy for an element is defined as

c = 1 dT
W B T CBde , (36)
2 e

where de is the nodal value vector of an element. The strain energy, external work, and kinetic
 Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using micropolar elements 1005

energy of an element can be defined as

Z Z
1 1 T
We = dT B T
CBJdAd e = d K d
e e , K e = B T CBJdA, (37)
2 e A 2 e A
Z
T
Pe = de N T F JdA = dT e Fe , (38)
A
 Z t2 Z

 1 ˙T

 T e = d e N T ρN d˙e dAdt,
t1 2 A
Z t2 Z Z (39)



 δTe = − (δdT M ¨e )dAdt, M =
d N T ρN dA.
e
t1 A A

By using Eq. (32), the governing equation of the vibrating problem is achieved as

M d¨ + Kd = 0, (40)

where K denotes the total secant matrix, which can be obtained by assembling the secant
matrix of an element, Ke . Also, d is the total displacement vector.

4 Implementation of UEL subroutine

In this section, implementation of the UEL subroutine for a micropolar element is described.
The basic structure of the UEL subroutine is presented in Listing 1.
Listing 1 User element subroutine structure
SUBROUTINE UEL(RHS, AMATRX, SVARS, ENERGY, · · · )
C
INCLUDE ’ABA PARAM.INC’
C
DIMENSION RHS(MLVARX, ∗), AMATRX(NDOFEL, NDOFEL), · · ·
1 SVARS(∗), ENERGY(8), COORDS(MCRD, NNODE), U(NDOFEL),
user coding to define RHS, AMATRX, SVARS, ENERGY, and PNEWDT
RETURN
END
RHS, AMATRX, and SVARS are the main variables of the UEL subroutine[48] . RHS denotes
the right-hand vector of an element and calculated as a residual force vector, i.e., f e − f int ,
where f e is the nodal external force, and f int is the internal nodal force of the element. Based
on the solving type, AMATRX denotes the stiffness matrix K e or mass matrix M e . Also,
LFLAGS is one of the main input parameters of the UEL subroutine that specifies analysis
type, i.e., large-displacement analysis is defined by LFLAGS(2) = 1. Also, SVARS defines the
solution-dependent state variables associated with an element, i.e., stresses or strains at all
integration points in an element.

5 Numerical examples

In this section, based on the 2D elasticity theory, three numerical examples are considered
for the vibration analysis of micropolar continua. Also, the predicted natural frequencies of
micropolar structures are compared with those from the CT of elasticity. To calculate the
numerical results, the following properties of polyurethane materials[49] are assumed. Also, the
results are computed by using the given constants in Table 1.
1006 M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, R. ANSARI, M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE, and M. BAZDID-VAHDATI

Table 1 Properties of micropolar micro-structure[49]

Parameter Definition Value
(2µ+κ)(3λ+2µ+κ)
Young’s modulus/MPa E= 2λ+2µ+κ
299.52
Shear modulus/MPa G = 2µ+κ
2
104
λ
Poisson’s ratio ν = 2λ+2µ+κ 0.44
2 κ
Coupling number N = 2(µ+κ) 0.04
q
γ
Characteristic length (bending)/mm lb = 0.33
q 2(2µ+κ)
β+γ
Characteristic length (torsion)/mm lt = α+β+γ
0.62
β+γ
Polar ratio ψ= α+β+γ
1.5

Based on the presented definitions of this table, one can define[49]

2Gν G(1−2N 2 ) 2GN 2 ³1 ´
λ= = 4Glb2 , µ = , κ = , α = (4Gl 2
t ) − 1 , β = 2G(lt2 − 2lb2 ).
1 − 2ν 1 − N2 1−N 2 ψ
Also, the values of density and micro-inertia are considered as

ρ = 2 000 kg/m3 , j = 5 × 10−5 m2 .

5.1 Example 1
The free vibration of a 2D micropolar beam subject to the clamped-free boundary condition
is considered. The schematic of the model is shown in Fig. 2.

y
b

O x a

Fig. 2 Micropolar beam (color online)

The geometrical data of the model are a/lb = 10, a/b = 20, where a and b are the length
and width of micropolar beams, respectively. First, the convergence behavior of the presented
method is studied. The first four natural frequencies of the micropolar beam for different
numbers of elements are presented in Table 2. This table indicates the converging trend of the
presented solution by increasing the number of elements. It can be seen that 350 × 25 elements
are suitable to obtain the converged values of frequencies.
The comparison between the first four micropolar natural frequencies and the corresponding
natural frequencies of the CT is presented in Table 3. Because of the complication of solving

Table 2 Convergence study of first four natural frequencies (kHz) of microbeam (a/lb = 10, a/b = 20)
Number of elements f1 f2 f3 f4

50 × 5 1.596 7 4.770 4 7.663 4 8.182 8

150 × 5 1.595 9 4.765 4 7.638 1 8.173 3
250 × 5 1.595 8 4.764 9 7.635 0 8.172 4
350 × 5 1.595 8 4.764 7 7.634 0 8.172 2
450 × 5 1.595 8 4.764 7 7.634 0 8.172 2
350 × 10 1.595 1 4.761 9 7.621 8 8.169 7
350 × 15 1.594 9 4.761 3 7.619 3 8.169 2
350 × 20 1.594 9 4.761 1 7.618 4 8.169 1
350 × 25 1.594 9 4.761 0 7.617 9 8.169 0
350 × 30 1.594 9 4.761 0 7.617 9 8.169 0
 Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using micropolar elements 1007

the equations of the MPT, there seem to be no exact analytical solutions in the open literature.
Therefore, based on the CT of elasticity and using the UEL subroutine, the first four free
frequencies of 2D rectangular beams are obtained and compared with the obtained results from
the ABAQUS software. In the ABAQUS, the beam is discretized with CPE4 (4-node plane
strain) elements. The results are presented in Table 3. There is good agreement in the presented
results of Table 3. The micropolar constants are presented in Table 1.

Table 3 First four frequencies (kHz) of 2D microbeam (a/lb = 10, a/b = 20)
Frequency CT-ABAQUS CT-present MPT
f1 1.055 7 1.056 0 1.594 9
f2 6.521 1 6.521 8 4.761 0
f3 17.861 0 17.861 5 7.617 9
f4 32.765 0 32.765 5 8.169 0

Based on the given values in Table 3, the micropolar effects increase the first natural
frequency of vibration of 2D micropolar beams, while the next natural frequencies of micropolar
beams are smaller than the corresponding frequencies of the CT. Figure 3 shows the first four
eigenmodes of 2D micropolar beams. Figure 4 displays the effect of the side length-to-length
scale ratio, a/lb , on the free frequencies of micropolar beams with a/b = 20.

Mode 1 Mode 2

Mode 3 Mode 4

Fig. 3 First four mode shapes of 2D micropolar beam (color online)

It can be seen in Fig. 4 that the difference between the natural frequencies of non-classical
beams and the corresponding classical beams decreases with the increase in a/lb . It can be seen
in this figure that, at small values of a/lb , the discrepancy between the frequencies of micropolar
and classical beams increases with the increase in the mode number, which shows that the effects
of the micropolar property at higher modes are considerable. Therefore, one can conclude
that in the vibration analysis of micropolar beams, the influence of micro-inertia dominates
the influence of other micropolar properties in higher mode numbers, and the frequency of
micropolar beams is lower than that of classical elastic beams. Also, at higher values of a/lb ,
the values of micropolar frequencies tend to that of the corresponding CT.

3.5
Natural frequency/kHz

CT, ω1 CT, ω3
3.0
MPT, ω1 MPT, ω3
2.5
CT, ω2 CT, ω4
2.0 MPT, ω2 MPT, ω4
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1 000
a/l b

Fig. 4 Variations of natural frequencies of 2D micropolar beam against a/lb (color online)
1008 M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, R. ANSARI, M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE, and M. BAZDID-VAHDATI

5.2 Example 2
The vibrating behavior of a square micropolar plate with a central hole is studied. This
micropolar plate is supported at left and right sides, and two other sides are free. The
material properties of the model are introduced in Table 1. The analysis is conducted with
a = 3.3 × 10−3 m, r = 3.3 × 10−4 m, where a and r are the length of micropolar plates and the
radius of central holes, respectively.
The first four eigenmodes of 2D micropolar plates are shown in Fig. 5. The first four
free frequencies of classical plates with central holes are compared with the computed ones
from ABAQUS and the MPT, as shown in Table 4. It can be observed that the frequencies
of micropolar structures are less than those of the classical structures, and the discrepancy
is large. Therefore, it can be concluded that, at lower values of a/lb , the influence of the
micro-inertia is considerable compared with other micropolar properties, and decreases the
stiffness of micro-structures in the vibration analysis.

Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4

Fig. 5 First four mode shapes of 2D square micropolar plate with central hole (color online)

Table 4 First four frequencies (kHz) of 2D square micropolar plate with central hole (a/lb = 10,
a/r = 10)
Frequency CT-ABAQUS CT-present MPT

f1 33.213 6 33.213 9 3.909 7

f2 59.469 0 59.469 6 4.778 7
f3 65.720 0 65.720 6 6.457 9
f4 71.402 9 71.403 8 7.465 9

Figure 6 shows the variations of first four free frequencies for micropolar plates and the
corresponding classical plates against a/lb . It can be observed that, when the value of a/lb
is small, the discrepancy between the values of natural frequencies of micropolar and classical
square plates with central holes is significant, which shows the micro-structural effects on the
size-dependent problems. Also, the difference between the predicted free frequencies of two
theories vanishes as a/lb gets larger. In the vibration analysis of micropolar beams in the first
example, the first micropolar frequency is more than the first classical one. Therefore, one
can conclude that the geometry of micro-structures is effective on the vibrating behavior of
micropolar structures.
5.3 Example 3
In this example, a 2D circular micropolar plate with one central hole is considered which
is clamped outside, and it is assumed that R = 0.001 65 m, r = 0.000 33 m, in which R and r
are the radii of the circular micropolar plate and the central hole, respectively. The first four
mode shapes of micropolar plates are shown in Fig. 7. Also, the comparison between the first
four natural frequencies of the MPT and the CT is presented in Table 5.
 Vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures using micropolar elements 1009
5
CT, ω1 CT, ω3

Natural frequency/kHz
MPT, ω1 MPT, ω3
4
CT, ω2 CT, ω4
MPT, ω2 MPT, ω4
3

0
150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
a/l b

Fig. 6 Variations of natural frequencies of 2D square micropolar plate with central hole against a/lb
(color online)

Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4

Fig. 7 First four mode shapes of 2D circular micropolar plate with central hole (color online)

Table 5 First four frequencies (kHz) of 2D circular micropolar plate with central hole (2R/lb =
10, R/r = 5)
Frequency CT-ABAQUS CT-present MPT

f1 84.919 0 84.917 9 5.681 6

f2 117.054 5 117.053 9 7.546 7
f3 117.054 5 117.053 9 7.546 7
f4 119.833 1 119.831 9 10.566 0

Owing to the symmetry of micropolar plate geometry and boundary conditions, the second
and third frequencies of circular micropolar plates are equal. In this example, like the previous
examples, the influence of micro-inertia is larger than that of other properties of the micropolar
material.
It is indicated that the micropolarity decreases the stiffness of plates and hence decreases the
values of micropolar natural frequencies, and the micropolar frequencies are smaller than the
classical frequencies. Figure 8 shows the variations of free frequencies of 2D circular microplates
with central holes against a/lb .
It is indicated that, the discrepancy between the frequencies of micropolar and classical
plates is considerable when the radius of plates is small. However, it is insignificant when the
radius of plates is large.

6 Conclusions

Based on the 2D linear MPT, the free vibration responses of micropolar beams and plates
are studied. The kinematics of the 2D linear micropolar elasticity is formulated in a matrix
1010 M. KOHANSAL-VAJARGAH, R. ANSARI, M. FARAJI-OSKOUIE, and M. BAZDID-VAHDATI
80
CT, ω1
70 MPT, ω1

Natural frequency/kHz
60 CT, ω2, ω3
MPT, ω2, ω3
50 CT, ω4
40 MPT, ω4

30
20
10
0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1 000
a/l b

Fig. 8 Variations of natural frequencies of 2D circular micropolar plate with central hole against a/lb
(color online)

form. Then, a non-classical quadrilateral element is implemented into the commercial finite
element software, ABAQUS, through the UEL subroutine. The developed size-dependent
element consists of two classical translational and one added micro-rotational DOFs, and is
able to capture the influence of the length-scale parameter on the mechanical behavior of
micropolar structures. Three numerical examples are solved by the developed element. The free
vibration behavior of 2D micropolar structures demonstrates that the influence of micro-inertia
is considerable compared with other micropolar constants, and the micropolar frequencies
are smaller than those of the classical frequencies at small scales. Also, it is indicated that
the discrepancy between the frequencies of micropolar and classical structures increases with
the increase in the mode number, which shows that the effect of the micropolar property at
higher modes is considerable. Also, it is shown that the geometry of this model is effective on
the vibration behavior of micropolar structures. Moreover, it is indicated that the difference
between frequencies given by the MPT and the CT decreases when the side length-to-length
scale ratio is large, and the results of the MPT tend to those of the CT at large values of a/lb .

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