A HIGH-PRECISION HIGHER-ORDER TRIANGULAR ELEMENT FOR FREE-VIBRATION OF GENERAL LAMINATED PLATES

A 72 degree of freedom (d.o.f.) high precision triangular plate element based on a simplified higher order shear deformation plate theory is developed for the free vibration analysis of composite laminated plates. The in-plane and transverse displacement fields of the plate are assumed, respectively, to vary cubically and constantly through the plate thickness, so that zero transverse shear stress conditions on the free boundary planes can be satisfied and the shear correction factor is not required. The total displacement of the plate is expressed as the sum of the displacement due to bending and that due to shear deformation. Thus, the independent variables involved in the formulations can be reduced and the element formulation process can also be simplified. The element presents no shear locking problem and the results obtained for plates with various material properties and boundary conditions are compared with those obtained by using the three-dimensional (3-D) elasticity solution and other available alternative solutions. © 1993 Academic Press limited.