Stability and accuracy of three Fourier expansion-based strong form finite elements for the free vibration analysis of laminated composite plates

In the present paper, strong form finite elements are employed for the free vibration study of laminated arbitrarily shaped plates. In particular, the stability and accuracy of three different Fourier expansion-based differential quadrature techniques are shown. These techniques are used to solve the partial differential system of equations inside each computational element. The three approaches are called harmonic differential quadrature, Fourier differential quadrature and improved Fourier expansion-based differential quadrature methods. The improved Fourier expansion-based differential quadrature method implements auxiliary functions in order to approximate functional derivatives up to the fourth order, with respect to the Fourier differential quadrature method that has a basis made of sines and cosines. All the present applications are related to literature comparisons and the presentation of new results for further investigation within the same topic. A study of such kind has never been proposed in the literature, and it could be useful as a reference for future investigation in this matter. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.