Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

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Applied Mathematical Modelling

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

Levy-type solution for free vibration analysis of orthotropic plates based

on two variable refined plate theory
Huu-Tai Thai, Seung-Eock Kim ⇑
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja Dong, Gwangjin Gu, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea

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

Article history: Closed-form solutions for free vibration analysis of orthotropic plates are obtained in this
Received 10 January 2011 paper based on two variable refined plate theory. The theory, which has strong similarity
Received in revised form 18 October 2011 with classical plate theory in many aspects, accounts for a quadratic variation of the trans-
Accepted 2 November 2011
verse shear strains across the thickness, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions
Available online 9 November 2011
on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factors. Equa-
tions of motion are derived from the Hamilton’s principle. The closed-form solutions of
Keywords:
rectangular plates with two opposite edges simply supported and the other two edges hav-
Levy-type solution
Refined plate theory
ing arbitrary boundary conditions are obtained by applying the state space approach to the
Free vibration Levy-type solution. Comparison studies are performed to verify the validity of the present
Orthotropic plate results. The effects of boundary condition, and variations of modulus ratio, aspect ratio, and
thickness ratio on the natural frequency of orthotropic plates are investigated and dis-
cussed in detail.
Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.

1. Introduction

Orthotropic plates are widely used in civil infrastructure systems and other structural applications because of their
advantageous features such as high ratio of stiffness and strength to weight. Thus, the knowledge of their free vibration char-
acteristic is very important to the structural designers. Unlike any other isotropic plate, the vibration of orthotropic plate is
more complicated due to the material anisotropy. Thus, an accurate and reliable vibration analysis of the orthotropic plates is
required to develop accurate and reliable design.
In company with the increase in the application of orthotropic plates in engineering structures, a number of plate
theories have been developed based on considering the transverse shear deformation effects. The classical plate theory
(CPT), which neglects the transverse shear deformation effect, provides reasonable results for thin plate. This theory
was employed for free vibration analysis of orthotropic plate by Tretyak [1], Sakata and Hosokawa [2], Jayaraman et al.
[3], Harik et al. [4], Biancolini et al. [5], Xing and Lui [6], among others. Since it overpredicts natural frequencies of mod-
erately thick plate, many shear deformation plate theories which account for the transverse shear deformation effects have
been developed to overcome the limitation of the CPT. The Reissner [7] and Mindlin [8] theories are known as the first-
order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT), and account for the transverse shear effects by the way of linear variation of
in-plane displacements through the thickness. Many studies of free vibration analysis of orthotropic plates have been car-
ried out using FSDT [9–12]. Since these models violate the equilibrium conditions at the top and bottom surfaces of the
plate, shear correction factors are required to correct the unrealistic variation of transverse shear stresses and shear strains
through the thickness. These shear correction factors are sensitive not only to the geometric parameters of plate, but also

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 3408 3291; fax: +82 2 3408 3332.
E-mail addresses: taispkt@yahoo.com (H.-T. Thai), sekim@sejong.ac.kr (S.-E. Kim).

0307-904X/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.

doi:10.1016/j.apm.2011.11.003
 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882 3871

to the boundary conditions and loading conditions. To overcome the drawbacks of the FSDT, a number of higher-order
shear deformation plate theories (HSDT), which involve the higher-order terms in power series of the coordinate normal
to the middle plane, have been proposed. Although the HSDTs have been adopted for predicting the natural frequencies of
orthotropic plates [13–16], they are not convenience to use due to the higher-order terms introduced into the theory [17].
Therefore, Shimpi [18] has developed a two variable refined plate theory which is simple to use. The most interesting fea-
ture of this theory is that it accounts for a quadratic variation of the transverse shear strains across the thickness, and
satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction
factors. In addition, it has strong similarities with the CPT in some aspects such as governing equation, boundary condi-
tions and moment expressions. Recently, this theory was successfully extended to orthotropic plates [19,20], laminated
composite plates [21], and functionally graded plates [22,23]. Although this theory was adopted for vibration analysis
of orthotropic plates by Shimpi and Patel [19], their analytical solutions were limited to the rectangular plates with simply
supported boundary conditions. Hence, it seems to be important to extend their analytical solutions to the rectangular
plates with various boundary conditions.
The purpose of this study is to derive the analytical solutions of refined plate theory for vibration problem of rectangular
plates with various boundary conditions. Equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton’s principle. The Levy-type solu-
tion is employed for solving the governing equations of rectangular plates with two opposite edges simply supported and the
other two edges having arbitrary boundary conditions. Comparison studies are performed to verify the validity of the present
results. In addition, the closed-form solutions of orthotropic plate based on CPT are also generated for the verification pur-
pose. The effects of boundary condition and variation of modulus ratio, aspect ratio, and thickness ratio on the natural fre-
quencies of orthotropic plates are studied and discussed in detail.

2. Refined plate theory

2.1. Kinematics

The two variable refined plate theory of Shimpi and Patel [19] accounts for quadratic variation of the transverse shear
strains across the thickness of the plate, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces
of the plate. The displacement field of this theory is as follows
 
@wb 1 5  z 2 @ws
Uðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ uðx; y; tÞ  z þz  ; ð1aÞ
@x 4 3 h @x
 
@wb 1 5  z 2 @ws
Vðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ v ðx; y; tÞ  z þz  ; ð1bÞ
@y 4 3 h @y
Wðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ wb ðx; y; tÞ þ ws ðx; y; tÞ; ð1cÞ
where u and v are the mid-plane displacements of the plate in the x- and y-direction, respectively; wb and ws are the bending
and shear components of transverse displacement, respectively; and h is the plate thickness.
It should be noted that unlike the first-order shear deformation theory, this theory does not require shear correction fac-
tors. The kinematic relations can be obtained as follows:

ex ¼ e0x þ zjbx þ f jsx ; ð2aÞ

ey ¼ e0y þ zjby þ f jsy ; ð2bÞ
ez ¼ 0; ð2cÞ
cxy ¼ c0xy þ zjbxy þ f jsxy ; ð2dÞ
cyz ¼ g csyz ; ð2eÞ
cxz ¼ g csxz ; ð2fÞ

where

@u @ 2 wb @ 2 ws
e0x ¼ ; jbx ¼  ; jsx ¼  ; ð3aÞ
@x @x2 @x2
2 2
@v @ wb @ ws
e0y ¼ ; jby ¼ ; jsy ¼ ; ð3bÞ
@y @y2 @y2
@u @ v @ 2 wb @ 2 ws
c0xy ¼ þ ; jbxy ¼ 2 ; jsxy ¼ 2 ; ð3cÞ
@y @x @x@y @x@y
@w @w 1 5  z 2 5  z 2
csxz ¼ s ; csyz ¼ s ; f ¼  z þ z ; g ¼ 5 : ð3dÞ
@x @y 4 3 h 4 h
3872 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

2.2. Constitutive equations

For an orthotropic plate, the constitutive relations can be written as

8 9 2 38 9
>
> rx >> Q Q 12 0 0 0 > > ex >>
>
> > 6 11 7> >
>
>
< ry >>
> 6
= 6 Q Q 0 0 0 7
>
>
> ey >
>
>
12 22
7< =
rxy ¼ 6
6 0 0 Q 66 0 0 7 cxy ;
7> ð4Þ
>
> > >
>
>
>
>
ryz >
>
>
>
>
6
4 0 0 0 Q 44 0 5>
7>
>
>
>
cyz >
>
>
>
>
:
rxz ; 0 0 0 0 Q 55
:
cxz ;
where Qij are the plane stress reduced elastic constants in the material axes of the plate, and are defined as
E1 m12 E2 E2
Q 11 ¼ ; Q 12 ¼ ; Q 22 ¼ ; Q 66 ¼ G12 ; Q 44 ¼ G23 ; Q 55 ¼ G13 ð5Þ
1  m12 m21 1  m12 m21 1  m12 m21
in which E1, E2 are Young’s modulus, G12, G23, G13 are shear modulus, and m12, m21 are Poisson’s ratios. The subscripts 1, 2, 3
correspond to x, y, z directions of Cartesian coordinate system, respectively.

2.3. Equation of motion

The strain energy of the plate is calculated by

Z Z  
1 1
P¼ rij eij dV ¼ rx ex þ ry ey þ rxy cxy þ ryz cyz þ rxz cxz dV: ð6Þ
2 V 2 V

Substituting Eqs. (2) into Eq. (6) and integrating through the thickness of the plate, the strain energy of the plate can be
rewritten as
Z n o
1
P¼ Nx e0x þ Ny e0y þ Nxy c0xy þ M bx jbx þ Mby jby þ M bxy jbxy þ M sx jsx þ Msy jsy þ M sxy jsxy þ Q yz csyz þ Q xz csxz dx dy; ð7Þ
2 A

where the stress resultants N, M and Q are defined by

Z h=2
ðNi ; M bi ; Msi Þ ¼ ð1; z; f Þri dz; ði ¼ x; y; xyÞ; ð8aÞ
h=2
Z h=2
Qi ¼ g ri dz; ði ¼ xz; yzÞ: ð8bÞ
h=2

By substituting Eqs. (2) into Eq. (4) and the subsequent results into Eq. (8), the stress resultants are obtained as
8 9 2 38 9
< Nx >
> = A11 A12 0 > < @u=@x >
=
6 7
Ny ¼ 4 A12 A22 0 5 @ v =@y ; ð9aÞ
>
: >
; >
: >
;
Nxy 0 0 A66 @u=@y þ @ v =@x
8 b9 2 38 9
>
> M > D11 D12 0 > 2 2
< x > = < @ wb =@x > =
M by 6 7
¼ 4 D12 D22 0 5 @ 2 wb =@y2 ; ð9bÞ
>
> > > >
: b > ; 0 0 D
: 2
2@ wb =@x@y
;
Mxy 66

8 s 9 2 38 9
< Mx >
2
> = D11 D12 0 >< @ ws =@x >
2
=
s 1 6 7
My ¼ 4 D12 D22 0 5 @ 2 ws =@y2 ; ð9cÞ
>
: s > ; 84 >
: >
;
Mxy 0 0 D66 2@ 2 ws =@x@y
  " s # 
Q yz A44 0 @ws =@y
¼ ; ð9dÞ
Q xz 0 As55 @ws =@x

where Aij and Dij are called extensional and bending stiffness, respectively, and are defined in terms of the stiffness Qij as
Z h=2
ðAij ; Dij Þ ¼ Q ij ð1; z2 Þdz ði; j ¼ 1; 2; 6Þ; ð10aÞ
h=2
Z h=2
25 25 25
Asii ¼ Q ii g 2 dz ¼ Aii  2 Dii þ 4 F ii ði ¼ 4; 5Þ; ð10bÞ
h=2 16 2h h
Z h=2
ðAii ; Dii ; F ii Þ ¼ Q ii ð1; z2 ; z4 Þdz ði ¼ 4; 5Þ: ð10cÞ
h=2
 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882 3873

The kinetic energy of the plate is can be written as

Z "  #
1 @w_b @w_s 2 @w_b @w_s 2
T¼ q u_  z f þ v_  z f þ ðw _ s Þ2 dx dy dz;
_bþw ð11Þ
2 V @x @x @y @y

where dot-superscript convention indicates the differentiation with respect to the time variable t; q is the mass density.
Hamilton’s principle is used herein to derive the equations of motion. The principle can be stated in analytical form as
Z t
0¼ dðP  TÞdt; ð12Þ
0

where d indicates a variation with respect to x and y.

Substituting Eqs. (7) and (11) into Eq. (12) and integrating the equation by parts, collecting the coefficients of du, dv, dwb,
and dws, the equations of motion for free vibration analysis of the orthotropic plates are obtained as follows:

@Nx @Nxy
du : þ €;
¼ I0 u ð13aÞ
@x @y
@Nxy @Ny
dv : þ ¼ I0 v€ ; ð13bÞ
@x @y
@ 2 M bx @ 2 Mbxy @ 2 M by
dwb : þ2 þ ¼ I 0 ðw € s Þ  I2 r2 w
€b þ w € b; ð13cÞ
@x 2 @x@y @y2
@ 2 M sx @ 2 Msxy @ 2 M sy @Q xz @Q yz I
dws : þ 2 þ þ þ ¼ I 0 ðw € s Þ  2 r2 w
€b þ w € s; ð13dÞ
@x2 @x@y @y2 @x @y 84

where the inertias are given by

Z h=2
ðI0 ; I2 Þ ¼ qð1; z2 Þdz: ð14Þ
h=2

Since this paper deals with the out-of-plane vibration of orthotropic plates, the initial in-plane displacements u, and v have
to equal to zero in Eqs. (13). The equations of motion for free vibration of orthotropic plate can be expressed in terms of wb
and ws as

@ 4 wb @ 4 wb @ 4 wb
D11 þ 2ðD12 þ 2D66 Þ 2 2 þ D22 ¼ I 2 r2 w €b þ w
€ b  I0 ðw € s Þ; ð15aÞ
@x4 @x @y @y4
" #
1 @ 4 ws @ 4 ws @ 4 ws @ 2 ws @ 2 ws I2 2
D11 4
þ 2ðD12 þ 2D66 Þ 2 2
þ D 22 4
 A44 2
 A55 ¼ r w
€ s  I 0 ðw € s Þ:
€b þ w ð15bÞ
84 @x @x @y @y @y @x2 84

Clearly, when the effect of transverse shear deformation is neglected (ws = 0), the governing equations (15) yield the equa-
tions of motion of orthotropic plate based on the classical plate theory.

3. Free vibration analysis

3.1. Boundary condition

Consider a rectangular plate with length a and width b as shown in Fig. 1. It is assumed that the two opposite edges par-
allel to the x-axis are simply supported and the other two edges can have any arbitrary conditions such as free, simply sup-
ported or clamped conditions as shown in Fig. 2. The simply supported boundary conditions on two opposite edges parallel
to the x-axis (y = 0 and y = b) are given as follows:

wb ¼ ws ¼ Mby ¼ M sy ¼ 0; ð16Þ

while the boundary conditions for the remaining two edges (x = 0 and x = a) are:

Clamped (C)
@wb @ws
wb ¼ ws ¼ ¼ ¼ 0: ð17Þ
@x @x
Simply supported (S)

wb ¼ ws ¼ Mbx ¼ M sx ¼ 0: ð18Þ
3874 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

x
a

Fig. 1. Levy-type plate with coordinate convention.

y y y

x x x
CC plate SC plate SS plate

y y y

x x x
FC plate FS plat e F F p la t e

Fig. 2. Boundary conditions of Levy-type plate.

Free (F)

Mbx ¼ Msx ¼ 0; ð19aÞ

@M bx @Mbxy @w€b
þ2 þ I2 ¼ 0; ð19bÞ
@x @y @x
s s
@M x @Mxy €s
I2 @ w
þ2 þ Q xz þ ¼ 0: ð19cÞ
@x @y 84 @x

3.2. Levy-type solution

In order to solve the governing equation with the above-prescribed boundary conditions, a generalized Levy-type ap-
proach [9,15,24] is employed to obtain the closed-form solutions. The following solutions for the transverse displacement
wb and ws are chosen to automatically satisfy the boundary conditions in Eq. (16)

X
1
wb ðx; y; tÞ ¼ W b ðxÞeixn t sin by; ð20aÞ
n¼1
X1
ws ðx; y; tÞ ¼ W s ðxÞeixn t sin by; ð20bÞ
n¼1
 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882 3875

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where b ¼ np=b; i ¼ 1, and Wb(x), Ws(x) are unknown functions to be determined, xn denotes the natural frequency of
the nth mode. Substituting Eqs. (20) into Eq. (15), a system of ordinary differential equations along the x-axis is obtained as
follows:
0000
W b ¼ C 1 W 00b þ C 2 W b þ C 3 W s ; ð21aÞ
0000
Ws ¼ C 4 W 00s þ C5 W s þ C6 W b; ð21bÞ

where ( )0  d/dx and the coefficients Ci are given as

2b2 ðD12 þ 2D66 Þ  x2n I2 x2 I0 þ x2n I2 b2  D22 b4

C1 ¼ ; C2 ¼ n ; ð22aÞ
D11 D11
2 2 2
x I0 84A55 þ 2b ðD12 þ 2D66 Þ  xn I2
C3 ¼ n ; C4 ¼ ; ð22bÞ
D11 D11
2 2 2 4 2
84xn I0 þ xn I2 b  D22 b  84A44 b 84x2n I0
C5 ¼ ; C6 ¼ : ð22cÞ
D11 D11
By applying the concept of state space, the coupled system of Eqs. (21) can be converted into matrix form as

Z 0 ðxÞ ¼ TZðxÞ; ð23Þ

where
 
000 T
ZðxÞ ¼ W b W 0b W 00b W 000 0 00
b Ws Ws Ws Ws ; ð24Þ
2 3
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 07
6 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 07
6 7
6C 0 C1 0 C3 0 0 07
6 2 7
T¼6 7: ð25Þ
6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 07
6 7
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 07
6 7
6 7
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15
C6 0 0 0 C5 0 C4 0
For the case of classical plate theory, vector Z(x) and matrix T can be simplified by setting the shear component of transverse
displacement to zero (ws = 0) as
 T
ZðxÞ ¼ W b W 0b W 00b W 000
b ; ð26Þ
2 3
0 1 0 0
6 0 0 1 07
6 7
T¼6 7: ð27Þ
4 0 0 0 15
C2 0 C1 0
A formal solution of Eq. (23) is given by

ZðxÞ ¼ eTx K; ð28Þ

where K is a constant column vector determined from the boundary conditions of the two edges parallel to the y-axis; and eTx
is the general matrix solution of Eq. (23) which can be expressed by
2 3
ek1 x 0
6 .. 7 1
eTx ¼ ½E4 . 5½E ; ð29Þ
0 ek8 x
where ki ði ¼ 1; 8Þ and [E] are distinct eigenvalues and corresponding matrix of eigenvectors, respectively, associated with the
matrix T.
By substituting Eqs. (20) into Eqs. (17–19), the boundary conditions of the two edges along the y-axis (x = 0 and x = a) can
be expressed in terms of unknown functions Wb and Ws as

Clamped (C)
W b ¼ W s ¼ W 0b ¼ W 0s ¼ 0: ð30Þ
3876 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

Simply supported (S)

1 
W b ¼ W s ¼ D11 W 00b þ D12 b2 W b ¼  D11 W 00s  D12 b2 W s ¼ 0: ð31Þ
84

Free (F)

 D11 W 00b þ D12 b2 W b ¼ 0; ð32aÞ

1 
 D11 W 00s  D12 b2 W s ¼ 0; ð32bÞ
84
2
 0
 D11 W 000 2
b þ ðD12 þ 4D66 Þb  I2 xn W b ¼ 0; ð32cÞ
2
 0
 D11 W 000 2
s þ ðD12 þ 4D66 Þb  I2 xn þ 84A55 W s ¼ 0: ð32dÞ

Substituting Eq. (28) into the appropriate eight boundary conditions of the two edges along the y-axis (x = 0 and x = a), a
homogeneous system of equations is obtained as follow:

Gij K j ¼ 0; ði; j ¼ 1; 8Þ; ð33Þ

where
2 3
ek1 x 0
6 .. 7 1
½GðxÞ ¼ ½E4 . 5½E : ð34Þ
k8 x
0 e
By setting the determinant of Gij equal to zero, one can determine the natural frequency x2n associated with the nth mode. It
should be noted that this solution procedure cannot provide natural frequency directly because the undetermined natural
frequency load x2n is included in matrix T. Hence, a trial and error procedure needs to be used to obtain the natural frequency
results. The following iteration procedure has been used in the present study to calculate the natural frequency x2n :

Step 1: Assign a small initial value of x2n .

Step 2: Form matrix T and compute the eigenvalues ki and eigenvectors [E] of T
Step 3. Form matrix [G] according to appropriate boundary conditions in Eqs. (30–32)
Step 4. Check if the determinant of matrix [G] changes sign.
(a) If no, increase the natural frequency and go back to Step 2.
(b) If yes, decrease the natural frequency by a small amount and go to next step.
Step 5. Check if the relative error between two successive iterations is within a given tolerance, stop the iteration. Other-
wise, return to Step 2.

4. Results and discussion

In this section, an orthotropic rectangular plate with two opposite edges simply supported and the other two edges hav-
ing arbitrary boundary conditions is considered. For convenience, a two-letter notation is used to describe the boundary con-
ditions of the remaining edges as shown in Fig. 2. For instance, FC indicates that one edge is free (F) and the other is clamped
(C). For verification purpose, the results obtained by present theory are compared with those predicted by other theories. The
effects of boundary condition and variation of modulus ratio, aspect ratio, and thickness ratio on the natural frequencies of
orthotropic plates are studied and discussed in detail. The following material properties are used:

Material 1 [16]

E1 ¼ 20; 830 ksi; E2 ¼ 10; 940 ksi; G12 ¼ 6100 ksi;

ð35Þ
G13 ¼ 3710 ksi; G23 ¼ 6190 ksi; m12 ¼ 0:44; m21 ¼ 0:23:

Material 2 [24]
E1 =E2 varied; G12 =E2 ¼ G13 =E2 ¼ 0:5; G23 =E2 ¼ 0:2; m12 ¼ 0:25: ð36Þ
For convenience, the following nondimensional natural frequency load is used in presenting the numerical results in graph-
ical and tabular forms
a2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
x
 ¼x q=E2 : ð37Þ
h
 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882 3877

Table 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Comparison of nondimensional natural frequencies x
 n ¼ xn h q=Q 11 of simply-supported square plate (a = 10h).

Method Mode
n=1 Err. (%) n=2 Err. (%) n=3 Err. (%) n=4 Err. (%)
Exact [25] 0.0474 – 0.1033 – 0.1888 – 0.2969 –
CPT [16] 0.0497 4.63 0.1120 7.77 0.2154 12.35 0.3599 17.50
FSDT [16] 0.0474 0.00 0.1032 0.10 0.1884 0.21 0.2959 0.34
HSDT [16] 0.0474 0.00 0.1033 0.00 0.1888 0.00 0.2969 0.00
Present 0.0477 0.63 0.1040 0.67 0.1898 0.53 0.2980 0.37

Table 2
Comparison of nondimensional fundamental frequencies of plate with different boundary conditions (a/h = 100).

a/b E1/E2 Method Boundary conditions

CC SC SS FC FS FF
0.5 10 CPT 20.6530 14.3442 9.3416 3.5613 1.3190 0.7124
(20.6543)a (14.3450) (9.3421) (3.5614) (1.3190) (0.7124)
Present 20.5591 14.3128 9.3326 3.5599 1.3189 0.7123
(20.5603) (14.3137) (9.3331) (3.5600) (1.3190) (0.7123)
25 CPT 32.4370 22.4246 14.4571 5.3050 1.3193 0.7123
(32.4390) (22.4259) (14.4578) (5.3051) (1.3193) (0.7123)
Present 32.0777 22.3056 14.4238 5.3002 1.3192 0.7122
(32.0795) (22.3069) (14.4245) (5.3003) (1.3192) (0.7122)
40 CPT 40.9608 28.2839 18.1866 6.6028 1.3193 0.7123
(40.9633) (28.2855) (18.1876) (6.6030) (1.3194) (0.7123)
Present 40.2455 28.0464 18.1205 6.5935 1.3192 0.7122
(40.2478) (28.0480) (18.1215) (6.5937) (1.3193) (0.7122)
1.0 10 CPT 21.2870 15.2028 10.4954 5.0583 3.6112 2.8502
(21.2889) (15.2042) (10.4963) (5.0586) (3.6114) (2.8503)
Present 21.2059 15.1734 10.4854 5.0561 3.6104 2.8495
(21.2078) (15.1747) (10.4863) (5.0564) (3.6105) (2.8496)
25 CPT 32.8434 22.9826 15.2265 6.4142 3.6116 2.8492
(32.8464) (22.9847) (15.2278) (6.4146) (3.6118) (2.8493)
Present 32.5486 22.8815 15.1960 6.4096 3.6108 2.8485
(32.5515) (22.8835) (15.1972) (6.4100) (3.6110) (2.8486)
40 CPT 41.2828 28.7279 18.8036 7.5248 3.6119 2.8491
(41.2866) (28.7305) (18.8052) (7.5253) (3.6121) (2.8492)
Present 40.7027 28.5312 18.7462 7.5173 3.6111 2.8484
(40.7062) (28.5337) (18.7477) (7.5178) (3.6112) (2.8485)
2.0 10 CPT 25.5129 20.5897 17.1329 12.9353 12.2357 11.4075
(25.5184) (20.5941) (17.1364) (12.9377) (12.2379) (11.4094)
Present 25.4372 20.5500 17.1094 12.9215 12.2238 11.3963
(25.4427) (20.5543) (17.1129) (12.9238) (12.2259) (11.3981)
25 CPT 35.7226 26.8480 20.3640 13.5537 12.2284 11.3974
(35.7303) (26.8537) (20.3682) (13.5562) (12.2305) (11.3993)
Present 35.5162 26.7603 20.3247 13.5380 12.2164 11.3862
(35.5237) (26.7659) (20.3288) (13.5404) (12.2186) (11.3880)
40 CPT 43.6060 31.9032 23.1574 14.1245 12.2280 11.3958
(43.6154) (31.9099) (23.1622) (14.1271) (12.2301) (11.3977)
Present 43.2325 31.7564 23.0996 14.1067 12.2160 11.3846
(43.2415) (31.7630) (23.1043) (14.1093) (12.2182) (11.3864)
a
Ignored rotary inertia.

4.1. Comparison studies

The first comparison is carried out for simply supported square plate using Material 1. The side-to-thickness ratio is
assumed to be 10. Table 1 shows the comparisons of the natural frequencies predicted by the present theory with exact solu-
tion given by Srinivas and Rao [25] based on three-dimensional elasticity theory, and those reported by Reddy and Phan [16]
based on CPT, FSDT, and HSDT. It can be seen that the present theory gives very good accuracy with the maximum error is
only 0.67%. Both FSDT and HSDT give slightly better accuracy than the present theory, whereas CPT overpredicts the natural
frequencies. The error between the results of CPT and shear deformation theories is more considerable for higher modes. It
should be noted that the present theory involves only two unknown functions and two differential equations compared to
three unknown functions and three differential equations in case of FSDT and HSDT. Moreover, both two differential
equations in present theory are only inertial coupling and there is no elastic coupling, hence, these equations can be solved
easily. Whereas, all three differential equations in FSDT and HSDT are inertial as well as elastic coupling, hence, these
3878 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

50

CPT
40

30 Present

ω
20 With rotary inertia
Without rotary inertia

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
a/h

Fig. 3. The effect of thickness ratio on nondimensional fundamental frequency of CC square plate (E1/E2 = 40).

50

40
CPT

30
With rotary inertia
ω
Without rotary inertia
20

Present
10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
E1/E2

Fig. 4. The effect of modulus ratio on nondimensional fundamental frequency of CC square plate (a = 5h).

equations are difficult to solve. It can be concluded that the present theory is not only accurate but also simple in predicting
the natural frequencies of orthotropic plates.
The next comparison is performed for thin plates with different boundary conditions using Material 2. Table 2 shows a
comparison of fundamental frequencies of thin plate (a/h = 100) obtained by present analysis based on present theory and
CPT. It can be seen that the results are in good agreement, although the CPT slightly overestimates the fundamental fre-
quency. The maximum difference between present theory and CPT appears in the case of CC plate. This difference increases
with the decrease of thickness ratio a/h as shown in Fig. 3 and the increase of modulus ratio E1/E2 as shown in Fig. 4. This
difference becomes considerable for thick plate with high modulus ratio. This is due to the fact that increasing the plate
thickness and modulus ratio increases the transverse shear deformation effects. It is observed from Figs. 3,4 that the effect
of rotary inertia is to decrease the frequencies. This effect is negligible in present theory, whereas it is considerable in CPT
only for very thick plates. It should be noted that when the rotary inertia is ignored, the nondimensional frequencies pre-
dicted by CPT are independent of the side-to-thickness ratio a/h.

4.2. Parameter studies

Parameter studies are carried out to investigate the effects of boundary condition and variations of thickness ratio, mod-
ulus ratio, and aspect ratio on the nondimensional fundamental frequencies of Levy-type plates. Material 2 is used. Based on
 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882 3879

Table 3
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies CC plate.

a/b a/h E1/E2

3 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 5 7.9535 9.9278 10.8258 11.3284 11.7027 12.0159
10 10.2041 15.0373 17.6572 18.9857 19.8333 20.4445
20 11.1943 18.6411 24.1768 27.5890 29.9782 31.7716
50 11.5352 20.2829 28.0499 33.7397 38.3200 42.1776
1.0 5 8.7867 10.8428 11.8374 12.3765 12.7642 13.0803
10 11.2124 16.0752 19.0023 20.5455 21.5377 22.2500
20 12.2683 19.4909 25.2595 28.9746 31.6502 33.6985
50 12.6301 20.9637 28.6650 34.4146 39.1030 43.0937
2.0 5 12.3302 13.9744 15.1006 15.7484 16.2003 16.5517
10 16.2738 20.0853 23.2497 25.2219 26.5937 27.6162
20 18.1623 23.7190 29.2243 33.2481 36.3948 38.9547
50 18.8424 25.1992 32.0377 37.5067 42.1473 46.2147

Table 4
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies SC plate.

a/b a/h E1/E2

3 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 5 6.4917 8.7219 9.7709 10.2901 10.6323 10.8921
10 7.6335 11.9527 14.7852 16.3600 17.3918 18.1334
20 8.0410 13.6063 18.2286 21.3634 23.7191 25.5851
50 8.1690 14.2179 19.7562 23.9265 27.3668 30.3311
1.0 5 7.4686 9.5462 10.6878 11.2725 11.6549 11.9399
10 8.8947 12.8632 15.8014 17.5431 18.7235 19.5882
20 9.4219 14.4921 19.0510 22.2738 24.7632 26.7775
50 9.5898 15.0824 20.4197 24.5288 27.9597 30.9416
2.0 5 11.6089 12.7991 13.8229 14.4727 14.9333 15.2847
10 14.8681 17.3070 19.7820 21.5656 22.9280 24.0101
20 16.3187 19.5797 23.2516 26.1972 28.6627 30.7812
50 16.8218 20.4196 24.6437 28.1975 31.3099 34.1026

Table 5
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies SS plate.

a/b a/h E1/E2

3 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 5 4.8399 6.9857 8.2401 8.8813 9.2832 9.5660
10 5.3202 8.5241 11.0551 12.6703 13.8239 14.7001
20 5.4685 9.1141 12.4009 14.7974 16.7105 18.3073
50 5.5126 9.3044 12.8804 15.6246 17.9239 19.9333
1.0 5 6.1425 7.8304 9.0458 9.7339 10.1864 10.5121
10 6.9515 9.5628 11.9334 13.5598 14.7744 15.7267
20 7.2194 10.2349 13.2676 15.5845 17.4839 19.1002
50 7.3012 10.4530 13.7360 16.3474 18.5726 20.5377
2.0 5 10.9975 11.6394 12.3588 12.9019 13.3277 13.6720
10 13.7909 14.9934 16.4739 17.7038 18.7467 19.6461
20 14.9772 16.5030 18.4742 20.2036 21.7468 23.1427
50 15.3796 17.0294 19.1992 21.1436 22.9151 24.5504

the present closed-form solutions, comprehensive results are given in Tables 3–8 for orthotropic plates with different bound-
ary conditions. For each case of boundary conditions, the aspect ratios are taken to be 0.5, 1 and 2, while four different thick-
ness ratios of 5, 10 (corresponding to thick plates), 20, and 50 (corresponding to thin plates) are examined. In addition, the
variations of nondimensional fundamental frequency with respect to thickness ratio a/h and modulus ratio E1/E2 are also
illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, respectively, for all boundary conditions. The following remarks can be made from Tables 3–8
and Figs. 5 and 6:
3880 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

Table 6
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies FC plate.

a/b a/h E1/E2

3 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 5 2.1667 3.0779 3.8027 4.2572 4.5780 4.8206
10 2.2876 3.4166 4.4688 5.2333 5.8366 6.3336
20 2.3219 3.5232 4.7058 5.6189 6.3805 7.0411
50 2.3319 3.5552 4.7803 5.7450 6.5655 7.2906
1.0 5 3.7396 4.2840 4.8450 5.2661 5.5990 5.8710
10 4.1039 4.8210 5.6262 6.2861 6.8489 7.3401
20 4.2162 4.9954 5.8973 6.6621 7.3356 7.9419
50 4.2497 5.0483 5.9816 6.7816 7.4938 8.1417
2.0 5 9.1579 9.3062 9.4897 9.6517 9.8003 9.9384
10 11.3590 11.6008 11.9172 12.2071 12.4801 12.7400
20 12.2644 12.5539 12.9416 13.3024 13.6466 13.9779
50 12.5667 12.8735 13.2876 13.6751 14.0462 14.4050

Table 7
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies FS plate.

a/b a/h E1/E2

3 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 5 1.2779 1.2781 1.2783 1.2785 1.2785 1.2786
10 1.3081 1.3083 1.3085 1.3086 1.3087 1.3087
20 1.3160 1.3163 1.3165 1.3166 1.3166 1.3167
50 1.3183 1.3186 1.3188 1.3189 1.3189 1.3189
1.0 5 3.2611 3.2577 3.2582 3.2586 3.2589 3.2591
10 3.5147 3.5102 3.5105 3.5108 3.5110 3.5111
20 3.5900 3.5851 3.5854 3.5857 3.5858 3.5859
50 3.6121 3.6072 3.6074 3.6077 3.6079 3.6080
2.0 5 8.9954 8.9727 8.9715 8.9722 8.9730 8.9737
10 11.0973 11.0557 11.0515 11.0512 11.0515 11.0517
20 11.9528 11.9012 11.8952 11.8945 11.8944 11.8946
50 12.2370 12.1817 12.1752 12.1743 12.1742 12.1742

Table 8
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies FF plate.

a/b a/h E1/E2

3 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 5 2.2305 2.2309 2.2313 2.2315 2.2318 2.2320
10 2.3049 2.3053 2.3055 2.3056 2.3056 2.3056
20 2.3252 2.3256 2.3258 2.3258 2.3258 2.3259
50 2.3310 2.3314 2.3316 2.3316 2.3316 2.3317
1.0 5 2.5821 2.5756 2.5749 2.5748 2.5747 2.5747
10 2.7801 2.7721 2.7713 2.7712 2.7711 2.7711
20 2.8384 2.8301 2.8292 2.8290 2.8289 2.8289
50 2.8556 2.8470 2.8462 2.8460 2.8459 2.8459
2.0 5 8.3908 8.3646 8.3607 8.3597 8.3593 8.3591
10 10.3538 10.3087 10.3019 10.3003 10.2996 10.2993
20 11.1510 11.0961 11.0879 11.0860 11.0852 11.0848
50 11.4156 11.3572 11.3485 11.3464 11.3456 11.3452

(1) Regardless of boundary conditions, aspect ratios and modulus ratios, the nondimensional fundamental frequencies are
increased by increasing the side-to-thickness ratio a/h (Fig. 5). The effect of thickness ratio becomes significant for
thicker plate with high modulus ratio. This is due to the effect of shear deformations.
(2) Regardless of aspect ratios and modulus ratios, the nondimensional fundamental frequencies are increased by increas-
ing the modulus ratio E1/E2 (Fig. 6) except for FS and FF plates where the value of nondimensional fundamental fre-
quency is almost constant with respect to the change of modulus ratio.
 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882 3881

35 CC
SC
30 SS
FC
FS
25 FF

20
ω
15

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
a/h

Fig. 5. The effect of thickness ratio on nondimensional fundamental frequency of square plate (E1/E2 = 25).

25
CC
SC
SS
20
FC
FS
FF
15
ω

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
E1/E2

Fig. 6. The effect of modulus ratio on nondimensional fundamental frequency of square plate (a/h = 10).

(3) Nondimensional fundamental frequency increases when higher restraining boundary condition is used at the other
two edges of Levy-type plates. In other words, the lowest and highest values of nondimensional fundamental fre-
quency correspond to the FF and CC plates, respectively. Such behavior is due to the fact that higher constraints at
the edges increase the flexural rigidity of the plate, leading to a higher frequency response.

5. Conclusions

The closed-form solution for free vibration of orthotropic plate with two opposite edges simply supported and the other
two edges having arbitrary boundary conditions has been developed based on the two variable refined plate theory. The the-
ory, which has strong similarity with classical plate theory in many aspects, accounts for a quadratic variation of the trans-
verse shear strains across the thickness, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of
the plate without using shear correction factors. The governing equations of plate are solved by applying the concept of state
space to the Levy-type solution. The accuracy and efficiency of the present theory have been demonstrated for free vibration
analysis of orthotropic plates. It can be concluded that the present theory is not only accurate but also simple in predicting
natural frequency of orthotropic plates compared to other shear deformation plate theories such as FSDT and HSDT. Due to
the interesting features of the present theory, the present findings will be a useful benchmark results for researchers to val-
idate their analytical and numerical methods in the future.
3882 H.-T. Thai, S.-E. Kim / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 3870–3882

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government
(MEST) (No. 2011-0030847).

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