Journal of Sound and Vibration (1985) 102(4), 493-499

NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF RECTANGULAR PLATES

USING CHARACTERISTIC ORTHOGONAL POLYNOMIALS
IN RAYLEIGH-RITZ METHOD

R. B. BHAT
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

(Received 22 May 1984, and in revisedform 29 September 1984)

Natural frequencies of rectangular plates are obtained by employing a set of beam

characteristic orthogonal polynomials in the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The orthogonal poly-
nomials are generated by using a Gram-Schmidt process, after the first member is
constructed so as to satisfy all the boundary conditions of the corresponding beam problems
accompanying the plate problems. Natural frequencies obtained by using the orthogonal
polynomial functions are compared with those obtained by other methods. The method
yields superior results for lower modes, particularly when plates have some of the edges
free.

1. INTRODUCTION
Vibration problems of rectangular plates which do not have at least two parallel edges
simply supported are not amenable to an exact solution. Rayleigh and Rayleigh-Ritz
methods of analysis, with use of beam characteristic functions, have been applied to
obtain the natural frequencies of such structures with good results [1-7]. The natural
frequencies and mode shapes obtained by the Rayleigh-Ritz analysis have been used to
obtain the response of rectangular plates to external excitations by Warburton [8].
Vijayakumar and Ramaiah [9] used mode shapes which are obtained from a modified
Bolotin solution. Dickinson [10] and Dickinson and Li [11] proposed an alternative set
of admissible functions, derived from the mode shapes of vibration of plates having two
parallel edges simply supported and the other two edges having appropriate boundary
conditions corresponding to the plate under study. Both in references [10] and [11] where
Rayleigh and Rayleigh-Ritz methods, respectively, were applied the simply supported
plate functions gave better results where plate edges were supported in some fashion,
but yielded poor results when the plate had some free edges. Bassily and Dickinson [12]
used "degenerated beam functions" to obtain the natural frequencies of plates involving
free edges. The construction of these functions is involved; however, the results agreed
well with those obtained experimentally.
In the present study, the vibration problem of rectangular plates has been investigated
:by using a set of characteristic orthogonal polynomials in the Rayleigh-Ritz method.
These orthogonal po!ynomials have been generated by using a Gram-Schmidt process
[13, 14] so as to satisfy the geometric boundary conditions of the accompanying beam
problems. Results are compared with those obtained by the beam characteristic functions
[6] and by the simply supported plate functions [11].
493
0022-460x/85/200493+07 $03.00/0 9 1985 AcademicPress Inc. (London) Limited
494 R.B. BHAT
2. GENERATION OF CHARACTERISTIC ORTHOGONAL POLYNOMIALS
Given a polynomial Co(X), an orthogonal set of polynomials in the interval a ~<x ~<b
can be generated by using a Gram-Schmidt process as follows [13, 14]:

r = ( x - B,)r r = ( x - B~)r - ckck_~(X), (1)

Bk "I~ XW(X)Ck2k-t(x)d x / I ~ W(X)b2k-,(x) dx,

Ck= I2 XW(X)r162 d x / I2 W(X)r de,

W(X) being the weighting function. The polynomials Ck(X) satisfy the orthogonality
condition

w(x)r162 dx = . (2)
au if k =
In the present application, the weight function is chosen as unity. The interval is from 0
to 1 and the coefficients of the polynomials are chosen in such a way as to make the
polynomials orthonormal,

f0 Lr dx = 1. (3)

Construction of the first member Co(X) is carried out so as to satisfy all the boundary
conditions of the beam problems accompanying the plate problem. Even though Co(X)
satisfies all the boundary conditions, both geometric and natural, the other members of
the orthogonal set satisfy only geometric boundary conditions, which can easily be checked
from the way the set is constructed by using equation (1). The procedure for constructing
the first member polynomial Co(X) is explained in the Appendix.

3. EIGENVALUE PROBLEM IN RAYLEIGH-RITZ METHOD

The deflection of a rectangular plate undergoing free flexural vibration can be expressed
in terms of the characteristic orthogonal polynomials in the x and y directions as

W(x, y) - ~. ~. A,~nr (4)

m n

where x = ~/a and y = rl/b, ~ and 77 are co-ordinates along the two sides of the plate,
and a and b are plate dimensions. The kinetic and strain energies of the plate are given
by
1 1
Tmax=89 lo W2(x, y) dx dy, ' (5)

Um~ = 89 b
Iolo 2 4IVyy+2~,a
[IVxx+a 2 2W,,xWyr+2(1-~,)a2W2y]dxdy,
" (6)

where p is the density of the plate material, h is the thickness of the plate, D is the
flexural rigidity of the plate, a is the side ratio a/b, t, is Poisson's ratio, and the subscripts
x and y refer to differentiation with respect to the subscript and the number of times the
subscript appears denotes the order of differentiation.
 NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF PLATES 495
Substituting the deflection function (1) into the kinetic and strain energy expressions
and minimizing the Rayleigh quotient with respect to the coefficients A;s yields the
eigenvalue equation
Z Z [c~.~- , ~.=(o,o~(o.o~1~
,--mi ---i j,.,,. - 0.
_

(7)
m n

Cmn'ij = ~(2.2) ~,(0..0) - - 4 rr(0.0) r-(2,2) -- 2 r r r ( 0 , 2 ) rT~( 2 . 0 ) . E ' ( 2 , 0 ) E ' ( 0 . 2 ) ' l ~_ " 1 / 1 __ . ~t ^ 2 E ' ( I , ! ) E'(I01)
~mz --nj "l-Ol .l~mi l~nj "l'IJOl LlT, mi rnj "l-l~mi Fnj JT.(.~I &'lit t:,rn i lnj

E~';~= foc(d'4,Jdxr)(dS4,/dxS) dx, F (r.'') =

-ns Io (drO./dyr)(d'~/Jdy ") dy,
a=a/b, m,n,i,j=l,2,3 ..... A=phw2a4/D, r,s=O, 1,2.
Solution of the eigenvalue equation will yield the natural frequencies and the mode shapes
of the plate.

TABLE 1
Frequency parameters ~ for S-S-S-S plate

Side ratio Mode no. Orthogonal

a (m, n) Exact value polynomials

1.0 1(1 1) 19.739 19.739

2(1 2) 49.348 49.348
3(2 1) 49.348 49.348
4(2 2) 78.957 78.957
5(1 3) 98.696 99.304
6(3 1) 98.696 99.304
2.5 1(1 1) 71.555 71.555
2(2 1) 101.163 101.164
3(3 1) 150.511 150-991
4(4 1) 219.599 222.918
5(1 2) 256.610 256.610
6(2 2) 286.219 286.219

TABLE 2
Frequency parameters ~ for C - C - C - C plate

Side ratio Mode no. Beam functions S.S. Plate Orthogonal

a (m, n) [6] functions [11] polynomials

1"0 1(1 1) 35"992 35"988 35"9855

2(2 1) 73"413 73"406 73"395
3(1 2) 73"413 73"406 73"395
4(2 2) 108"27 108"25 108"22
5(3 1) 131"64 131"62 131"78
6(1 3) 132"24 132"23 132"41
1-5 1(1 1) 60"772 60"768 60"762
2(2 1) 93"~60 93"848 93"835
3(1 2) 148"82 148"81 148"78
4(3 1) 149"74 149"71 149"85
5(2 2) 179"66 179"64 179"57
6(4 1) 226"92 226"89 227"90
496 R.B. BHAT
4. NUMERICAL RESULTS
Natural frequencies of rectangular plates with the following boundary conditions have
been numerically computed and results are presented in Tables 1-4: (1) all edges simply
supported ( S - S - S - S ) ; (2) all edges clamped ( C - C - C - C ) ; (3) two adjacent edges simply
supported and the other two free ( S - S - F R - F R ) ; (4) two adjacent edges clamped and
the other two free (C-rC-FR-FR). In the numerical execution, six terms in each direction
have been considered for the plate deflection, so that comparison with the results of
Leissa [6] and of Dickinson and Li [11] is possible. The natural frequencies do not
depend on Poisson's ratio when all edges are supported; however, they vary with Poisson's
ratio if some of the edges are free. A value o f v = 0.3 has been chosen as in references
[6, 11]. The orthogonality of the polynomials has been verified numerically.
Exact values of natural frequencies are known for the first case of all edges simply
supported and Table 1 shows these results along with those obtained by using orthogonal

TABLE 3
Frequencyparameters ~ for S-S-FR-FR plates
Side ratio Beam functions S.S. plate O~hogonal
a Mode no. [6] functions [11] polynomials

1.0 1 3.3687 3.6991 3.3671

2 17.407 17.334 17.316
3 19-367 19.393 19.293
4 38.291 38.265 38.213
5 51-324 51.249 51-545
6 53-738 53.677 54.064
2.5 1 8.251 10.807 8.247
2 29.646 30.130 29.567
3 64.760 64.613 65.078
4 99.206 99.249 98.737
5 118.31 117.95 122.22
6 126.07 126.09 128.09

TABLE 4
Frequencyparameters ~ for C-C-FR-FR plates
Side ratio Beam functions S.S. plate O~hogonal
a Mode no. [6] functions [11] polynomials

1.0 1 6.9421 7.1631 6-9243

2 24.034 23.974 23.923
3 26.681 26-687 26.591
4 47-785 47.753 47-670
5 63.039 62.967 62.$50
6 65.833 65.772 65.685
2.5 1 24-911 26.039 24.8468
2 44.719 45.081 44.597
3 81.879 81-730 81.670
4 136.52 136.24 138.21
5 143.10 142.99 147.02
6 165.63 165.64 165.39
 NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF PLATES 497
polynomials. The n u m b e r of half wavelengths are indicated inside parentheses in the
mode n u m b e r column. It is seen that the agreement is very good when the number, of
wavelengths is small. The significant error in the fourth natural frequency when a = 2.5
is due to the fact that there are four half waves in one direction c o m p a r e d to six polynomials
considered in the numerical execution.
The results for the case of all edges clamped when using orthogonal polynomials are
compared with those from references [6, 11] in Table 2. The first natural frequency is
superior compared to those obtained in [6, 11]. Results are presented for a = 1 and 1.5.
Higher natural frequencies also agree quite favorably with those o f references [6, 11].
Results for plates with free edges are given in Tables 3 and 4 along with those of
references [6, 11]. Use of orthogonal polynomials yields results which are superior to
those of references [6, 11] for lower order natural frequencies. Since the orthogonal
polynomials satisfy only the geometric b o u n d a r y conditions, except for the first member,
they do not over restrain the structure, unlike the beam functions (see the discussion in
reference [12]). Hence, the functions are able to closely approximate the true boundary
conditions of the plate with the application of Rayleigh-Ritz procedure.
In conclusion, the characteristic orthogonal polynomials as proposed here yield superior
results for lower modes, particularly when the plate has free edges, are simple to construct
and possess the orthogonal property which simplifies the analysis as in the case o f beam
functions and simply supported plate functions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the National Research Council of C a n a d a Grant A1375.

REFERENCES
1. W. RITZ 1909 Annalen der Physik, Viente Folge 28, 737-786. Theorie der Transversal schwin-
gungen einer quadratischen platten mit friein Randen.
2. D. YOUNG 1950 Journal of Applied Mechanics 17, 448-453. Vibration of rectangular plates by
the Ritz method.
3. G. B. ~,VARBURTON 1954 Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 168, 371-384.
The vibration of rectangular plates.
4. A. W. LE1SSA 1969 NASA SP-160. Vibration of plates.
5. S. F. BASSILY and S. M. DICKINSON 1972 Journal of Sound and Vibration 24, 219-239. Buckling
and lateral vibration of rectangular plates subject to in-plane loads--a Ritz approach.
6. A. W. LEISSA 1973 Journal of Sound and Vibration 31,257-293. The free vibration of rectangular
plates.
7. S. M. DICKINSON 1978 Journal of Sound and Vibration 61, 1-8. The buckling and frequency
of flexural vibration of rectangular orthotropic plates using Rayleigh's method.
8. G.B. WARBURTON 1979 Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics 7, 327-334. Response
using the Rayleigh-Ritz method.
9. K. VIJAYAKUMAR and G. K. RAMAIAH 1978 Journal of Sound and Vibration 56, 127-135.
Analysis of vibration of clamped square plates by the Rayleigh-Ritz method with asymptotic
solution from a modified Bolotin method.
10. S. M. DICKINSON 1978 Journal of Sound and Vibration 59, 143-146. On the use of simply
supported plate functions in Rayleigh's method applied to the flexural vibration of rectangular
plates.
11. S. M. DICKINSON and E. K. H. LI 1982 Journal of Sound and Vibration 80, 292-297. On the
"use of simply-supported plate functions in the Rayleigh-Ritz method applied to the flexural
vibration of rectangular plates.
12. S. F. BASSILY and S. M. DICKINSON 1975 Journal of Applied Mechanics 42, 858-864. On the
use of beam functions for problems of plates involving free edges.
498 R.B. BHAT
13. T. S. CHIHARA 1978 An Introduction to Orthogonal Polynomials. London: Gordon and Breach
Science Publishers.
14. R. L. BURDEN, J. D. FAIRES and A. C. REYNOLDS 1981 Numerical Analysis. Boston,
Massachusetts: Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, second edition.

APPENDIX
The first member polynomial in the orthogonal set of polynomials is constructed so as
to satisfy all the boundary conditions, both geometric and natural. The method is described
below for the four plates considered in the present study.

1. PLATE ~,VITH ALL EDGES SIMPLY SUPPORTED ( S - S - S - S )

Both of the accompanying beam problems have the same boundary conditions, namely
X(0) = X"(0) = X(1) = X"(1) = 0. (A1)
Assuming the beam deflection as
X ( x ) = ao+ a l x + a2x2 + a3x3"F a4x 4 (A2)
and applying the boundary conditions (A1) gives the deflection shape as
X ( x ) = a4(x - 2x 3 + x4), (A3)
where a4 is an arbitrary constant. The normalized mode function is obtained as

9 qbo(X) = (x - 2x 3 + x 4) X2(x) dx (A4)

2. PLATE WITH ALL EDGES CLAMPED ( C - C - C - C )

Both of the accompanying beam problems have the same boundary conditions, namely
X(0) = X'(0) = X(1) = X'(1) = 0. (A5)
Assuming the beam function deflection as
X ( x ) = ao + a l x + a2x2 + aax3+ a4x 4 (A6)
and applying the boundary condition (A5) gives the deflection shape as
X(x) = a 4 ( x 2 -- 2X 3 q- X4), (A7)
where a4 is an arbitrary constant. The normalized mode function is obtained as

q~o(X)=(X2--2X3
+X4)/(I ~ X2(x)dx) I/2 (A8)

3. PLATE WITH TWO A D J A C E N T EDGES SIMPLY SUPPORTED A N D THE OTHER TWO FREE

Both of the accompanying bea m problems have the same boundary conditions, namely
X(0) -- X"(0) = X"(1) = X " ( 1 ) -- 0. (A9)
Assuming the deflection function to be o f the form
X ( x ) = ao + a l x + a2x 2 q- a3 X3 .-Fa4x4-F a5x5 (A10)
and applying the boundary conditions (A9) gives the deflection shape as
X ( x ) = as( Cx + ~ x 3 - ~ x 4 + xS), (All)
 NATURAL F R E Q U E N C I E S OF PLATES 499
where C is a constant. The function X ( x ) satisfies the boundary conditions for any value
of C; however, the plate natural frequency when this shape function is used varies with
C. The constant C is chosen so as to minimize the natural frequency of the beam obtained
when using the above shape function. It is found after the necessary analysis that the
natural frequency monotonically decreases when C is increased and has a minimum
when C-->co. The reduction in natural frequency value is less for large values of C and
hence any large value of C is acceptable. In the present study C is chosen as (1000/3).
The normalized mode function is obtained as

qSo(X)= ( C x + ~ x 3 - ! ~ x 4 + x 5) X2(x) dx) . (AI2)

The linear term, Cx, corresponds to the rigid body mode of the beam.

4. PLATE WITH TWO A D J A C E N T EDGES C L A M P E D A N D THE OTHER TWO FREE

Both of the accompanying beam problems have the same boundary conditions, namely
X(0) = X'(0) = X"(1) = X"(1) = 0. (A13)
Assuming the deflection function to be of the form
X (x) = ao + alx + a 2 x 2 q - a3x3+ a 4 x 4 (A14)
and applying the boundary conditions (A13) gives the deflection shape as
X ( x ) = a4(6x 2 - 4 x 3+ x4), (A15)
where a4 is an arbitrary constant. The normalized mode function is obtained as

t~o(X) =(6X2--4X3+X4)/(If X2(X)dx) 1/2 (A16)