Transverse vibration of trapezoidal plates of variable thickness : unsymmetric trapezoids

This is the second part of a two-part paper on the study of free flexural vibration of symmetric and unsymmetric trapezoidal plates [1]. The variational principle of a minimum energy functional and the Ritz numerical procedure are used to study the free transverse vibratory response of a class of unsymmetric trapezoidal plates of variable thickness. The pb-2 global shape functions are employed as the admissible displacement amplitude functions of the plates. These sets of shape functions ensure the automatic satisfaction of the geometric boundary conditions of the vibrating plates. Justification of convergence and verification of results are systematically presented. Some new numerical data are also included for future reference.