Free vibration of non-Lévy-type rectangular line-hinged plates: Analytical solutions in the symplectic framework

Abstract

The free vibration behavior of non-Lévy-type line-hinged plates is common in engineering, but it is intractable to deal with such an issue by analytical methods for the difficulties in solving the fourth-order partial differential equations under hinge conditions. This paper aims to extend the symplectic methodology to the free vibration of non-Lévy-type line-hinged plates. The solution procedure involves dividing a line-hinged plate into subplates, processing boundary and hinge conditions, formulating the corresponding subproblems which can be solved with an analytical symplectic superposition method, determining the imposed mechanical quantities, and integrating the solutions of subproblems. Compared to previous studies on line-hinged plates, the present analytical free vibration solutions are obtained with no need for predetermination of solution forms. The comprehensive results under six non-Lévy-type boundaries are all well validated and utilized for a parametric study, providing guidance for the structural design of hinged plates.