Influences of Large Amplitudes, Transverse Shear Deformation, and Rotatory Inertia on Lateral Vibrations of Transversely Isotropic Plates

In the present paper, using an improved Reissner’s variational theorem along with Berger’s hypothesis, a set of governing equations which include the effects of transverse shear deformation and rotatory inertia is derived for the large amplitude free vibrations of plates composed of a transversely isotropic material. Applying the possibility of neglecting the rotatory inertia in primarily flexural vibration (discussed in the previous work [1]²), the lateral free vibrations of simply supported plates are treated in detail and the solution is compared with those of previous investigators. The free vibration of beams is studied as a special case of plates, while the small amplitude vibrations are treated as a special case of large amplitude vibrations. The numerical results show that the effect of transverse shear deformation is significant when applying to the plate constructions made of pyrolytic graphite-type materials.