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The Effects of Orthotropic Materials on the Vibration

Characteristics of Structural Systems #

Article  in  Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines · October 2007

DOI: 10.1080/15397730701617814

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Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines, 35: 363–380, 2007
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN 1539-7734 print/1539-7742 online
DOI: 10.1080/15397730701617814

The Effects of Orthotropic Materials on the

Vibration Characteristics of Structural Systems#

Gokhan Altintas
Department of Civil Engineering, Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey

A. Burak Goktepe
Kolin Construction Company, Horasan Sok, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract: The rapid growth in anisotropic material (such as composite

materials) usage marks a new era in material science. Obviously, in order
to understand the physical behavior of structural systems constituted by
composite materials, several parameters, such as natural frequencies, mode
shapes, and transmissiblities, must be incorporated into anisotropic elastic
analyses. Orthotropy, as a special case of anisotropy, is common in almost
all fields of civil and mechanical engineering. The objective of this effort is to
investigate the effect of orthotropy on the behavior of vibrating plate systems
near degenerate modes. A degenerate plate may be lack of geometric stability
since the plate may exhibit a qualitatively different behavior under an arbitrarily
small change in special parameters. The special parameters considered in this
study are orthotropy and the location of additional mass, which have the
effect of removing the system symmetry. The method, which depends on a
variational procedure in conjunction with a finite difference method, is employed
to examine free vibration characteristics as well as to characterize steady
state response to a sinusoidally varying force applied to orthotrophic elastic
rectangular plate. The problem is reduced to the solution of a system consisting
of algebraic equations by using the variational difference method (VDM). In
order to sort the effect of orthotropy on the vibration behavior from other
factors, locations of external force, and mass are treated as additional parameters

Received April 22, 2007; Accepted June 15, 2007

#
Communicated by S. Sinha.
Correspondence: Gokhan Altintas, Department of Civil Engineering, Celal
Bayar University, 45140, Muradiye, Manisa, Turkey; E-mail: gokhan.altintas@
bayar.edu.tr
364 Altintas and Goktepe

in the analyses. Furthermore, supports are constituted as elastic so as to be

able to obtain force transmissibility curves. Finally, plate systems having two
different boundary conditions, namely elastically supported and elastically point
supported, are utilized to observe the generalization of the outcomes. Results
reveal that in case of material orthotropy existence in a plate system, there are
several keynote issues that must be taken into account in vibration analyses,
which are not important under isotropic conditions. Obviously, these effects are
of theoretical importance and should be considered in practical applications.

Keywords: Degenerate modes; Effect of orthotropy; Modal degeneracy;

Variational difference method.

1. INTRODUCTION

Composite and sandwich plates are widely employed in lightweight

structure technology for the construction of various structural members.
The vibration behaviors of composite sandwich plates (laminated, fiber
reinforced or inclusion oriented) can be regarded according to the
global behavior of anisotropic plates. As a special case of anisotropy,
orthotropy is also very common in all the fields of structural, civil,
mechanical, aerospace, and naval engineering. It should be noted that
orthotropic behavior can be observed by (a) the use of anisotropic
materials, (b) the metallurgical process altering the isotropic properties
perpendicular directions, and (c) the usage of stiffening beams coupled
with an isotropic plate. Designers and engineers need to characterize
the dynamic responses of orthotropic plates in order to make precise
and reliable designs. In this context, the modeling of the free vibration
characteristics of these structures is crucial both in understanding the
dynamic responses as well as avoiding instability problems that emerged
from resonance.
In investigations of this class of problems, many researchers have
employed different techniques to determine the free vibration properties
as well as the dynamic responses of anisotropic plates under various
conditions. The determination of natural frequencies in the transverse
vibration of anisotropic rectangular plates is a problem that has
been extensively studied by several researchers. Leissa’s work (1969)
constitutes excellent compilations of the pertinent literature. Here, the
natural frequencies of anisotropic plates with different geometries,
boundary conditions were examined numerically and experimentally.
Another notable work performed by Lekhnitskii (1968) is on the
formulations of transverse vibrations of anisotropic plates. Bert (1982)
compiled an excellent survey of the literature on the dynamics of plate
type structural elements of composite materials. In summary, the effects
of anisotropy on vibration behavior of plates have been examined in
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 365

many works directly or indirectly. A brief investigation of recent works

is given below.
Davi and Milazzo (2003) considered different lamination
orientations to investigate natural frequencies as well as mode shapes
of plates having different boundary conditions and geometries. Ashours
(2001) focused on the effect of orthotropy, aspect ratio, and taper
ratio on natural frequencies of vibrating plates with variable thickness.
Hause and Librescu (2006) performed a study considering the effects of
anisotropy of core layer’s face sheets and other mechanical/geometrical
parameters of flat sandwich plates on their eigen frequencies. Kabir
(2004) implemented numerical results, eigenvalues, and mode shapes by
comparing the analytical solutions with commercially available finite
element packages. Biancolini et al. (2005) investigated the problem of
approximate evaluation of the frequencies of orthotropic plates. Lee
et al. (1997) conducted detailed free vibration analyses on laminated
composite rectangular plates for different fiber orientations of laminas.
In their noteworthy study, Wang and Williams (1997) performed both
analytical and experimental investigations in order to understand the
vibrating behavior of machine stators. Experiments indicated that
the vibrational behavior of a stator is quite different from that of
the homogeneous isotropic cylinder. Additionally, laminations of stators
have significant effects on the vibrations of a cylinder, and the effects
are mode type dependent.
Within the framework of free vibration analyses, the dynamic
anisotropic plate problem is of great concern; nevertheless, only
few research studies have been investigated on the responses of
anisotropic plates. The steady state response to a sinusoidally varying
force was determined for a viscoelastically point-supported square or
rectangular plate by Yamada et al. (1985) using generalized Galerkin
method. A generalization of this study to orthotropic rectangular
plates was investigated by Kocaturk (1998). The steady state response
to sinusoidally varying forces was determined for a viscoelastically
point-supported orthotropic square or rectangular plate by Kocaturk
and Altintas (2003a,b) using an energy-based finite difference method.
In these research studies, symmetric mode types were analyzed for
both axes by considering natural frequencies and force transmissibility
curves. Consequently, they determined that orthotropic materials exhibit
different vibrating behaviors for some modes. In another study carried
out by Kocaturk et al. (2005), point support as well as forced vibration
analyses were applied to orthotropic rectangular plates by applying
symmetric mass location for free and forced vibration analyses. Finally,
Altintas and Bagci (2005) analyzed the free and forced vibration on
viscoelastically supported anisotropic plates for different mass location
and force application details.
366 Altintas and Goktepe

Free and forced vibration properties are affected by various

parameters. The degree of influence may also be experienced differently
for mode types. In the majority of previous studies, not only has the
effect of orthotropy not been distinguished from other agents, but also
forced vibration analyses have not been carried out. In addition, the
studies in the written material have focused on the fundamental mode
region, which does not cover many real life problems. Therefore, there
is a considerable gap in the literature in terms of the distinguishing
behavior of orthotropy and the dynamic response beyond the region of
the fundamental mode.
In real world problems, mass and force can be located beyond
the symmetry axes and nodal lines, as well as material properties,
can be isotropic or orthotropic. In this investigation, to gain a better
understanding of the effect of orthotropy on vibration characteristics
all these conditions have been involved and the behavioral graphics
presented. Moreover, an effective and comprehensive algorithm is
implemented so as to compute vibration properties under different
circumstances. Force transmissibility is also an important indicator
for understanding the behavior of vibrating plates. For this reason,
elastic support conditions are also examined to use force transmissibility
properly.

2. NUMERICAL METHOD

The traditional finite difference methods were widely used for

establishing stability and natural vibration models of thin walled
structures. However, usage of classical finite difference methods (FDM)
is inefficient to solve vibration problems of thin walled structures because
of low order accuracy, poor convergence, and calculation instability.
Another difference method is variational difference method (VDM),
which is more stable than FDM and suitable for vibration problems.
VDM was improved by many researchers and used for analyzing
complex dynamics problems, which appears to be unstable upon the
use of FDM (Babich et al., 1992, 1999; Babich and Khoroshun, 2001;
Gladun, 2000; Godzula and Shnerenko, 2002). FDM involves difficulties
in formulating boundary conditions supplementing which is required
by the differential equation of the problem. Since the energy approach
with the use of the variational procedures in conjunction with the
finite difference technique is applied in the study, the stress boundary
conditions are satisfied automatically through the minimization process
and only geometric boundary conditions are considered in the analysis.
The VDM technique has been applied by several researchers to
examine the vibration characteristics of plates. Aksu and Felemban
(1992) and Aksu and Al-Kaabi (1987) used this technique for the
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 367

free vibration analysis of plates. Using the similar technique, a forced

vibration analysis of Kelvin-Voigt type viscoelastically supported plates
were investigated by Altintas and Bagci (2004, 2005, 2006), Kocaturk
and Altintas (2003a). The numerical method based on VDM by which
the analyses have been carried out in this study is described briefly.
Consider an elastically supported mass loaded plate with side lengths
LX
LY , and thickness h subjected to a distributed force as shown
in Fig. 1. Translational stiffness coefficient is equally assigned along
all edges. Axis of the plate material coincides with the OX and OY
axes. Therefore, the plate is considered to be orthotropic. Given W is
the lateral displacement of the mid-surface of the plate corresponding
coordinate Z, and the maximum strain energy of the plate is:

 2 2
1
LX
LY W 2 W 2 W
U = 2
+ 2YX
2 0 0 X X 2 Y 2
 2 2  2 2 
W D66 W
+e 2
+ 4 dX dY (1)
Y DXX X Y

Figure 1. Elastically supported plate with additional mass subjected to

concentrated force.
368 Altintas and Goktepe

where as, the maximum kinetic energy of the plate can be expressed
as follows:

LX
LY
 
h2 M
2


T= W 2 dX dY + W 2 dA
(2)
0 0 2 2 A

in which M
is the additional mass per unit area and DXX
D66 are defined
as given below:

DXX = EX
h3 /12
D66 = GXY h3 /12 (3)

where GXY is shear modulus, and EX

EY
are derived by:

XY EY = YX EX
e = EY /EX

    (4)
EX
= EX / 1 − 2YX /e
EY
= EX e/ 1 − 2YX /e

A is distribution area of additional mass. The (W2 term assumes a
simple-harmonic solution.
The additive strain energy and dissipation function of an elastic
support is:

1
2
Fs = k WSi (5)
2

where k
is spring coefficient of an elastic support, EX
EY are Young’s

moduli in the OX and OY directions, respectively. WSi is displacement
of ith support. Finally, YX is Poisson’s ratio for the strain response in
X direction due to an applied stress in Y direction. The total energy of
whole plate can be found by summing the entire area of the plate with
supports and external force. The potential energy from external force is
then obtained as:



Fe = −FEXT WE dA

(6)
A

where FEXT and WE are external force per unit area and the



corresponding displacement. A is the distribution area of external load.
Introducing the following nondimensional parameters

X Y L
x=
y=
= X

LX LX LY
(7)
√
w̄x
y
t = wx
ye it
= W/LX
i = −1
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 369

above energy expressions can be obtained.


1 1  2
Um
n = 4
w̄m−1
n − 2w̄m
n + w̄m+1
n
2
x
2 YX   
+ 2 2
w̄m−1
n − 2w̄m
n + w̄m+1
n w̄m
n−1 − 2w̄m
n + w̄m
n+1

x
y
4 D66  
+ w̄ m−1
n−1 − w̄ m+1
n−1 − w̄ m−1
n+1 + w̄ m+1
n+1
DXX 4
x2
y2 2

e 3  2
+ w̄ − 2 w̄ + w̄
x
y

y4 m
n−1 m
n m
n+1

hL3X LY ˙ 2 ˙
L4 M w̄
Tm
n = w̄m
n
x
y + X
x
y
2 2
1
Fs = L2X k
w̄m
n
2
2 (8(a–d))
Fe = −LX Q w̄m
n

where Q is external force.

The derivative terms were approximated in terms of discrete
displacements at grid-points by using the following finite difference
operators:
 2 
 w̄ 1  
= w̄ − 2w̄m
n + w̄m+1
n
x2 m
n
x2 m−1
n
 2 
 w̄ 1  
= w̄ − 2w̄m
n + w̄m
n+1 (9)
y2 m
n
y2 m
n−1
 2 
 w̄ 1  
= w̄ − w̄m+1
n−1 − w̄m−1
n+1 + w̄m+1
n+1
x y m
n 4
x
y m−1
n−1

The energy of the whole plate can be found by summing the entire
area of the plate; thus, the following expressions can be written:


N 
N 
N 
N  
U= Um
n
T = Tm
n
Fs = Fsi
Fe = Fei (10)
m=1 n=1 m=1 n=1

where N is taken as the number of the mesh points in each of the two
directions in the plate region, N × N is the total number of the area
elements on the plate.
The governing differential equation derived from the Lagrange’s
equation is given as:
 
d T T − U  Fs Fe
− + + =0 (11)
˙ m
n
dt  w̄  w̄m
n  w̄m
n  w̄m
n
370 Altintas and Goktepe

where w̄m
n is discrete displacement for m
n and the over dot stands
for the partial derivative with respect to time. Introducing the following
nondimensional parameters:

kj L3X h2 L4X Q LX

j =
2 =
q= (12)
LY DXX DXX DXX

and remembering that w̄x
y
t = wx
yei  t , which was given in

Eq. (7), by using Eq. (11) for the mesh point m
n with Eqs. 8(a)–(d)
results in the following expression:

4 4YX
− w − 2wm
n + wm−1
n  − w − 2wm
n + wm
n+1 

x4 m+1
n
x2
y2 m
n−1
4YX
− w − 2wm
n + wm+1
n 

x2
y2 m−1
n

4 3 DYY 22
− w − 2wm
n + wm
n+1 − w
x
y

y4 DXX m
n−1 m
n

2
+ w − 2wm+1
n + wm
n 

x4 m+2
n

2
+ 2YX 2 wm+1
n−1 − 2wm+1
n + wm+1
n+1 
x
y

x
y

2
+ w − 2wm−1
n + wm−2
n 

x4 m
n

2YX
+ w − 2w + w 
x
y

x2
y2 m−1
n−1 m−1
n m−1
n+1


2YX
+ w − 2wm
n−1 + wm−1
n−1 

x2
y2 m+1
n−1

2 3
+ 4 e wm
n−2 − 2wm
n−1 + wm
n 
x
y

y

2YX
+ w − 2wm
n+1 + wm−1
n+1 

x2
y2 m+1
n+1

2 3
+ 4 e wm
n − 2wm
n+1 + wm
n+2 
x
y

y
 
D66
+ w − w − w + w 
x
y

x2
y2 2DXX m−2
n−2 m−2
n m
n−2 m
n

 
D66
+ − 2 2 w − wm−2
n+2 − wm
n + wm
n+2 
x
y

x
y 2DXX m−2
n
 
D
+ − 2 2 66 wm
n−2 − wm
n − wm+2
n−2 + wm+2
n 
x
y

x
y 2DXX
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 371
 
D66
+ w − w − w + w 
x
y

x2
y2 2DXX m
n m
n+2 m+2
n m+2
n+2

2 22 wm
n q √
+ S wm
n − M = Q
i = −1 (13)

x
y
x
y
x
y

in which, is volumetric mass ratio defined as total additional

mass/plate mass and M is number discrete area where additional mass
is loaded. The parameters S and Q are numbers of discrete area where
supports and external force are located, respectively. In Eq. (13), S , M ,
and Q are taken values 0 and 1, depending on the existence of support,
mass, and force on pivotal point m and n, respectively. In this study,
ratio of the distribution area of mass or force is considered as minimum
on the discretized plate; in other words, concentrated force and mass
are used.
For the whole mesh points, by using Eq. (13), the following set of
linear algebraic equations is obtained by means of matrix notation:

Aw − 2 Cw = q (14)

where A and C are coefficient matrices calculated by Eq. (13) for all
mesh points. For free vibration analysis, when the external force is zero
in Eq. (14), this results in a set of linear homogeneous equations that can
be expressed in the following matrix form:

Aw − 2 Cw = 0 (15)

Numbering of the mesh points is shown in Fig. 2. By decreasing the

dimensionless mesh widths, the accuracy can be increased; therefore, the
force transmissibility at the supports is determined by:
 
TR = Pi / FEXT (16)

where FEXT is total amount of external force and Pi is total
magnitude of reaction forces. The number of unknown displacements is
N + 22 , where N 2 denotes the mesh size in the plate region.
Natural vibration modes can be grouped into several categories.
In this study, natural vibration modes are considered under the light of
(a) the relationship between symmetry axis of the plate as well as mode
shapes, and whether (b) the modes are degenerable or not.
Navier’s solution can be very explanatory in order to understand the
indicators utilized for the mode types. The problem of square plates that
are simply supported with all sides is the simplest idealization to solve a
rectangular plate. For simply supported boundary conditions, the shape
372 Altintas and Goktepe

Figure 2. Typical VDM mesh on a part of the plate.

function can be written with double Fourier series that corresponds to

Navier’s solution:
   
  
mx nx
wx
y = Wm
n sin sin (17)
m=1 n=1
a a

where Wm
n is an amplitude coefficient determined by initial conditions

of the problem as well as m and n are integers. The same integers appear
in a nondimensional natural frequency formulation of isotropic square
plates from Navier’s solution and are as follows:

m
n = 2 m2 + n2  (18)

The integers, m and n, are the number of nodal lines lying in x

and y directions respectively, with the consideration of the boundaries as
nodal lines except when the boundary is free. The symbols SS and AA
respectively represent symmetrical and antisymmetrical vibrations with
respect to centerlines where m = n. The symbol SA (or AS) characterizes
symmetrical vibration with respect to one centerline and antisymmetrical
vibration with respect to the other where m = n.
SA and AS modes, which are referred to as degeneration of
frequencies, have the same frequency parameters for a square plate
having the structural symmetry. Because of the symmetry of the square,
the modes where m = n degenerate in the sense that m
n = n
m . Although
these modes have the same frequencies, the associated mode shapes
are different. Such unusual dynamics are often induced by eigenvalue
degeneracy, and modal interaction occurs near the degeneracy.
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 373

3. THE ANALYSES

By focusing on the considered interval it can easily be seen from

the Fig. 3 that modal frequencies increase with the ratio of EY /EX .
On the other hand, for isotropic conditions, namely EY /EX = 1, two
modes are combined for SA (AS) types and the same frequency
values (d1
d2
d3
d4
d5  are obtained; thus, the plate is degenerated.
Nevertheless, when the material is orthotropic, additional mode regions
(the same as the number of SA (AS) modes) are observed in plate
systems; this is not valid for plates constituted with isotropic materials.
The natural frequencies of point supported plates are indicated
in Fig. 4. It should be noted that the range of the first six natural
frequencies for varying mass ratios as well as different mass locations
are considered in the figure. It can easily be derived from Fig. 4(a)
that natural frequencies of modes, whose some nodal lines are crossing
with the mass location, are not influenced by variations. Furthermore,
natural frequencies of SS and AA modes have lower values in case of the
additional mass location is beyond the symmetry axis and nodal lines.
This observation can also be made from Fig. 4(b) for point supported
plates where additional mass location is beyond the nodal lines of modes
and the symmetry axis of plate.
Another point worth of mentioning about the figure that the natural
frequencies of SA-AS modes are differed from each other, and the
difference is proportional with the variation of mass amount where the

Figure 3. Effect of anisotropy on natural frequencies: a) Elastically supported

plate, b) Elastically point supported plate  = 1000; = 0.
374 Altintas and Goktepe

Figure 4. Effect of mass amount and location on natural frequencies of point

supported plates ( = 109 , EY /EX = 1; a)  = 05;  = 05; b)  = 092;
 = 062.

mass located beyond the symmetry axis of plate as well as out of the
nodal lines. Finally, a part of SA-AS modes is inversely proportional
with the mass amount; nevertheless, the remaining parts of SA-AS modes
are not influenced by the mass amount for all examined boundary
conditions.

Figure 5. Transversal Displacement Contour graphs for plate elastically point

supported plate ( = 6;  = 1000; = 0; F = 050; F = 050).
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 375

In Fig. 5, the transversal displacement contours plot of plates having

different EY /EX ratios are depicted for external forces that are located
on the centeroids. It should be noted for the transversal displacement
contours plot that F = XF /LX and F = YF /LY . For a square plate,
the squared symmetry is valid for isotropy and invalid for orthotropy.
This situation results in various distortions in the shapes of isohips;
similarly, nodal lines are changed by the effect of orthotropy. This
conclusion was also drawn previously by others (Kocaturk, 1998; Lee
et al., 1997).
Forced vibration analysis is of particular importance in terms of
practical applications. In this investigation, the evaluations on forced
vibration analyses are made by force transmissibility curves. It should
be noted that the frequency values corresponding to the peak points of
transmissibility curves are the same with free vibration frequency values
of the modes obtained by the analyses of conservative systems.
In Fig. 6, which comprises five materials having different EY /EX
values, transmissibility curves are plotted for two different types
supported plates. Referring to Fig. 6 again, the transmissibility curves of
the points (p1
p2, and p3), independent from the orthotropy, cross from
the same points. As can be seen from the asymptotic points indicated
by bold signs, the modes are solely affected by the ratio of orthotropy,

Figure 6. Effect of anisotropy on Force Transmissibilities: a) Elastically

supported plate; b) Elastically point supported plate ( = 1000; F = 050;
F = 050; = 0).
376 Altintas and Goktepe

but for the systems constituted by isotropic materials, the transmissibility

curves do not have peak points for this mode. In other words, the peaks
of force transmissibility curves of some modes are observed only for
orthotropic materials.
In Figs. 7(a) and 7(b), the transmissibility curves are plotted for
isotropic and orthotropic point supported plates in which the location
of the additional mass do not intersect with the nodal lines. It should
be mentioned for the plots that  = X /LX and  = Y /LY . The most

Figure 7. Elastically Point Supported Square Plate, = 05,  = 1000:

(a)  = 050;  = 050, F = 065; F = 055, EY /EX = 10; (b)  = 050;
 = 050, F = 065; F = 055, EY /EX = 08; (c)  = 065;  = 055, F =
050; F = 050, EY /EX = 10; (d)  = 065;  = 055, F = 050; F = 050,
EY /EX = 08.
Effects of Orthotropic Materials on Vibration Character 377

important difference between the two graphs is that the transmissibility

curve exhibits a peak point for SS-2 mode and in the case of orthotropic
material utilization.
Figures 7(c) and 7(d) illustrate the differences in transmissibility
curves when the locations of additional mass as well as force are
changed for isotropic and orthotropic materials, respectively. The crucial
point regarding with the orthotropic in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d) is that the
transmissibility curve of SS-2 mode occurs with orthotropic material as
in Figs. 7(b) and 7(d).
Another spotlighting keypoint derived from the figures is that the
location of the additional mass has a predominant effect in terms of the
observation of peak points with respect to the location of the external
force.
Finally, Fig. 7 shows without a shadow of doubt that orthotropy has
specific effects on the modal behaviors in terms of the peak observations,
differently from other influencing factors.

4. COMMENTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In order to understand the physical behavior of structural systems

constituted by orthotropic materials, such as composites, several
parameters, such as natural frequencies, mode shapes, and transmissib-
lities, must be incorporated into orthotropic material analyses. In this
context, numerical simulations are carried out in this investigation to
determine the effect of orthotropy on vibration behavior of plates.
Besides orthotropy, additional mass and location of external force
are also treated as free parameters in the vibration analyses. In this
way, the effects of the variables are separated from that of the
orthotropy. This also leads to the determination of this investigation as a
comprehensive study in steady state response analysis of additional mass
loaded elastically supported plates.
The free vibration analyses have indicated that frequency values
emerging from the natural frequencies of plate systems increase with the
ratio EY /EX .
The utilization of orthotropic material in the production of square
plates avoids the degeneration of SA(AS) type modes. On the other
hand, it can be concluded from free vibration analyses that additional
mode regions (equals to the number of SA(AS) modes) are encountered
for orthotropic materials with respect to isotropic conditions.
It is concluded from the analyses that, natural frequencies of modes,
whose nodal lines are passing through the mass location as well as
independent from the mass for free vibrations, are not changed if the
mass located at the center of the plate.
378 Altintas and Goktepe

Dramatically different plate shape occurs when external force

frequency varies within a narrow range around the frequency of
degenerated modes; as a reason of this, undesirable effects occur in
the structural stability. Free vibration graphics show that modes that
can be degenerated diverge from the others with the differentiation of
perpendicular elastic constants. In this way, geometrically more stable
system is observed.
Force transmissibility curves obtained for two plate systems having
different boundary conditions exhibit quite different behaviors when
using isotropic and orthotropic materials. Respectively, the frequency
values corresponding to peak points of the curves vary with the change in
the orthotropy as seen in the free vibration graphics. More importantly,
several peak points, which are not encountered in isotropic analyses,
are observed in transmissibility curves of the orthotropic material.
This result is valid for both of the plate systems having different
boundary conditions.
It is observed in the analyses of the systems with additional masses
that the location of the additional mass is a more significant parameter
in terms of the peak observation than external force location. It is
understood from the transmissibility curves that peak points emerge by
the existence of orthotropy and that these are apart from the effects of
mass and external force location.
Consequently, there are crucial points that must be considered in
the vibration analysis of plate systems when material orthotropy exists.
In case of the existence of material orthotropy, degeneration in the
plate system can be avoided from some modal behaviors. On the other
hand, the number of modes that must be taken into consideration in
the dynamic analyses increases due to the number of modes causing
degeneration. Differently, for isotropic conditions, the plate system may
possibly be subjected to instability problem as result of degeneration
effect.

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