A mixed method for free and forced vibration of rectangular plates

This paper presents a very first combined application of Ritz method and differential quadrature (DQ) method to vibration problem of rectangular plates. In this study, the sp. partial derivatives with respect to a coordinate direction are first discretized using the method. The resulting system of partial differential equations and the related bourn conditions are then discretized in strong form using the DQ method. The mixed met combines the simplicity of the Ritz method and high accuracy and efficiency of the method. The results are obtained for various types of boundary conditions. Comparison are made with existing analytical and numerical solutions in the literature. Numerical results prove that the present method is very suitable for the problem considered du its simplicity, efficiency, and high accuracy. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved