Journal of Sound and Vibration (1987) 114(1), 65-71

FLEXURAL VIBRATION OF POLYGONAL PLATES

U S I N G CHARACTERISTIC
O R T H O G O N A L POLYNOMIALS IN T W O VARIABLES

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

(Received 23 January 1986, and in revisedform 18 March 1986)

A set of characteristic orthogonal polynomials in two variables is used as deflection

functions to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes of polygonal plates by the
Rayleigh-Ritz method. The set of orthogonal polynomials is constructed by employing
the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization procedure. The first six natural frequencies are
numerically evaluated for triangular plates of different configurations by using these
orthogonal functions and the corresponding mode shapes are plotted. Results are compared
with those obtained previously by other methods.

1. INTRODUCTION
Vibrations of plates of different shapes and configurations are studied extensively and
well documented [1]. Most of these results are for rectangular, circular, elliptical,
triangular or other regular shaped plates. Studies on general quadrilateral plates, or
polygonal plates with unequal side lengths, are rather limited since the two variables
describing the plate geometry are implicitly related. Methods such as collocation methods
[2], finite element methods [3, 4], Galerkin methods [5], conformal mapping-variational
methods [6] have been used to study the vibration of plates where the two variables are
implicitly related. Bhat used characteristic orthogonal polynomials to study the vibration
of rectangular plates [7, 8], the vibration of a tapered cantilever beam [9], and the plate
deflections under various types of static loads [10]. He chose the first polynomial in the
orthogonal set as the simplest polynomial which satisfied at least the geometrical boundary
conditions and, if possible, all the boundary conditions. The higher members of the set
were constructed by the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization procedure [11].
In the present paper, a set of characteristic orthogonal polynomials in two variables,
constructed in the plate domain, is proposed to study the plate vibration behaviour by
the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The polynomials are constructed by using the Gram-Schmidt
orthogonalization procedure in two variables [12]. Natural frequencies and mode shapes
of triangular plates obtained by applying this method are presented and compared with
previously published results.

2. ORTHOGONAL POLYNOMIALS IN TWO VARIABLES

A polynomial in two variables can be constructed by using a sequence of monomials
arranged in a specific order as 1, x, y, x 2, xy, y 2 , . . . , x", x " - t y , . . . , X"-ky k. The first
member in the orthogonal polynomial set is constructed so as to satisfy at least the
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66 R.B. BHAT
geometrical boundary conditions for the polygonal plate. The first member, ~bl(x, y), is
of the form

ok1( x, y) = Co+ clx + c2y + c3x 2 + c4xy + 9 9 9 , (1)

where the constants, c;, are determined by applying the boundary conditions. For a
polygon of n sides, there will be 2n boundary conditions. Hence, ~b~(x,y) can contain
(2n+ 1) constants out of which 2n can be expressed in terms of one arbitrary constant.
The higher members of the orthogonal set are constructed by applying Gram-Schmidt
orthogonalization. For example, if a triangular domain is considered, there will be six
boundary conditions, so that ~l(x, y) will be
cbl ( x, y) = Co+ cl x + c2y + c3x 2+ c 4xy + c5 y2 + c6x 3 (2)

and ~b2(x,y) can be expressed as

qb2(x, y) = x2y + a2~dpl (x, y). (3)

Note that the monomial x2y appears after x 3 in the sequence. The orthogonality condition
between the polynomials in the set requires that

if i # J l ,
f f qb'(x'y)~bj(x'Y)7((x'y)dxdy={ O, i f i = j j (4)

where y(x, y) is a weight function. By using this property, the constant a2~ in equation
(3) is obtained as

a~---ff x2yy(x,y)q~l(x,y)dxdy/ff y(x,y)q~(x,y)dxdy. (5)

The integration is carried out over the plate area. The third member of the set, tk3, can
be expressed as

qba(x, y) = x y 2 + a3: ~b2(x, y) + aa , c~, ( x, y ), (6)

where the coefficients a32 and a3~ are obtained by using the orthogonality property between
the polynomials ~b3, ~b2 and ~b~. This procedure is continued until the required number
of orthogonal polynomials are constructed. Unlike in the case of polynomials in one
variable, where there is a recurrence relation involving three successive polynomials [9],
here the orthogonalization must be carried out with every other member in the set.
For a uniform plate, the weight function, y(x, y), in equation (4) is unity, whereas if
the plate thickness varies in any fashion such variations can be included in the weight
function in constructing the orthogonal set.

3. EIGENVALUE PROBLEM
The geometry of the triangular plate is shown in Figure 1. The deflection of a triangular
plate undergoing free flexural vibration can be expressed in terms of the characteristic
orthogonal polynomials as

W(x, y) = ~ cldp~(x, y), (7)

i--1

where x = g/a, y = *l/a, a and b are the sides of the triangle as in Figure 1 and r and rl
 FLEXURAL VIBRATION OF POLYGONAL PLATES 67
c
, b
Y~I

A(4~/ ,
x~
Figure 1. Triangular plate geometry.

.U_ Figure 2. Mode shapes for triangular plate with 0 = 0~

are the Cartesian co-ordinates. The kinetic and strain energies of the plate are given by

Tmax=89 I I W2(x,y) dx dy, (8)

Wyy+2vWxxWyy+2(1 - v) W2xy]dx dy, (9)

where p is the density o f the plate material, h is the thickness of the plate, D is the
flexural rigidity of the plate, u is the Poisson's ratio, and the subscripts x and y refer to
differentiation with respect to the subscript as many times as the subscripts appear.
68 R.B. BHAT

Fifth mode

Figure 3. Mode shapes for triangular plates with 0 = 30*.

Substituting the deflection function into the kinetic and strain energy expressions and
minimizing t h e Rayleigh quotient with respect to the coefficients cl yields the eigenvalue
problem
Y. [E U- ,,,~'~(~176176176
rj~, = 0, (10)
i

where
,~(2.o.:.o)j_
Eu=--u - - -u{o.2.o.2)
~ ,_,
- " t -r-~:(o.2.2.o>
u .L
- Flf.o.o.2)]
. +2(1 v)[F~'l'u)],

FI~ '",r'~)-- f f [dm~bi(x, y)/dx'][d"d~,(x, y)/dy"J[dr~pj(x, y )/ dxr][ d~dpj(x, y)/dy ~] dx dy,

in which A = pha~2a4/D, i, j = 1, 2, 3 , , . . . , and m, n, r, s = 0 , 1, 2. The solution of the
eigenvalue p r o b l e m will provide the natural frequencies and the mode shapes.

4. N U M E R I C A L RESULTS
Natural f r e q u e n c i e s and mode shapes of a triangular cantilever plate, shown in Figure
1, with edge A B clamped and edges AC and BC free, have been obtained by using the
present a p p r o a c h . Poisson's ratio was assumed to be 0.3 for the computations. Table 1
shows the c o n v e r g e n c e of the natural frequencies as the number of terms used increases,
for the case o f 0 -- 0. Table 2 provides the first six natural frequencies for different angles
 FLEXURAL VIBRATION OF POLYGONAL PLATES 69

~de

Sixmode
th
Figure 4. Mode shapes for triangular plates with 0 = -30*.

TABLE 1
Convergence of natural frequencies with the number of terms;
A = (to/2cr)(pa4h/D) 1/2

No. of terms
,, A ......
r 9

Mode no. 3 6 10 15 21

1 1.0510 0.9910 0"9851 0.9837 0"9825

2 4.6535 4"2189 3'8707 3.7406 3'7365
3 9.4123 5"8991 5.3151 5.2271 5.2069
4 -- 12"394 10.467 9.5132 8'9772
5 -- 21.574 14"441 13.205 12'447
6 -- 44,203 23,084 18.4779 17.155

0 and these are compared with the values available in the literature. Twenty-one (21)
terms were used in obtaining the results of Table 2. The finite element results in reference
[4] were obtained by considering 45 degrees of freedom compared to the 21 degrees of
freedom used in the present results and those already available in the literature.
The mode shapes are shown in Figures 2-4 for the three cases. They agree well with
the earlier results.
For a polygonal plate of n sides, the first function, ~b~(x,y), can be chosen as

~ , ( x , y ) = 1~ ~,(x,y), (11)
i=l
70 R.B. BHAT
TABLE 2
Natural frequencies of triangular plates for different configurations; A = ( t o / 2 ~ r ) ( p a 4 h / D ) i / 2

0 (deg) Mode no. Present method Reference [4] Reference [3] Reference [13]

0 1 0.9825 0.9802 0.9801 0.9238

2 3.7365 3.6703 3.7302 3.6418
3 5.2069 5.2981 5.1976 5.0878
4 8.9772 8.8992 8.9385 8.7028
5 12.447 11.855 12.195 11.809
6 17.155 15.831 15.885 15.478
+30 1 0.9099 0.9178 -- --
2 3.4259 3-3583
3 5.9612 5.7216
4 8.9225 8"6171
5 11.877 10.731
6 19.202 16.323
-30 1 1.4200 -- -- --
2 5.5915
3 6.1283
4 14.418
5 14.885
6 17.521

where the symbol I-I denotes that the p r o d u c t of terms corresponding to all i must be
taken and the form o f the function r y) is as follows: for clamped edges,
~ ( y - m , x - c,) 2 for edges y = rn~x+ c~]
~b,(x, y) = ~ ( x - a,) 2 for e d g e s x a~ I
L(y-b,) 2 for e d g e s y bi
for simply supported edges
~ ( y - m~x - c,) for edges y = m~x + c~']
~b,(x, y) = ~ ( x - al) for edges x = ar l
I~(Y - b,) for edges y = bi.

for free edges,

O,(x, y) = 1.

The higher order members o f the orthogonai set can be obtained by following the
construction procedure discussed earlier.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the National Research Council o f C a n a d a Grant A 1375.

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of isoceles triangular plates having the two equal edges clamped and the other edge simply
supported.
 FLEXURAL VIBRATION OF POLYGONAL PLATES 71
3. G. R. COWPER, E. KOSKO and G. M. LINDBERG 1969 American Institute of Aeronautics and
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4. S. MIRZA and M. BIJLAN1 1983 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal 21,
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