A discrete element model for vibration analysis of mixed edge plates

In this paper, the free vibration analysis of plates with mixed edge boundaries is presented. A discrete element model is developed for the present study. In the solution process, the original domain is discretised into small subdomains with the admissible functions of each subdomain represented by sets of orthogonal polynomials. Higher-order polynomials in the set are generated using the Gram-Schmidt recurrence process. Continuity matrices derived from the geometric compatibilities between subdomains are used to couple the eigenvectors of adjacent subdomains. The global stiffness and mass matrices are considered to be the sum of the stiffness and mass matrices of the constitutive subdomains after pre- and post-multiplied by the respective continuity matrices. Convergence and comparison studies were carried out to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method in solving this class of problems. © 1994.