LAUSR

We propose a novel method, known as Coupled displacement field (CDF) method, an alternative to study large amplitude free vibration behavior of moderately thick rectangular plates. An admissible trial function was assumed for one of the variables, say, the total rotations (in both X, Y directions). The function for lateral displacement field is derived in terms of the total rotations with the help of coupling equations, where the two independent variables become dependent on one another. This method makes use of the energy formulation, where it contains only half the number of undetermined coefficients when compared with conventional Rayleigh-Ritz method. The vibration problem is simplified significantly due to the reduction in number of undetermined coefficients. The frequency-amplitude relationship for the moderately thick rectangular plates with various aspect ratios for all edges simply supported and clamped boundary conditions was obtained. Closed form expressions for linear and nonlinear fundamental frequency parameters were derived.