APPLICATION OF RECIPROCAL THEOREM

WITH COMPLETE FUNCTIONS IN STATIC AND VIBRATION PROBLEMS

OF THIN ELASTIC PLATES

Somsak Leungvichcharoen
Department of Civil Engineering, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand

Suthum Suriyamongkol
Department of Civil Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Anil C. Wijeyewickrema
Department of Civil Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT

A solution method based on Maxwell-Betti’s reciprocal theorem with complete functions

is proposed for static and dynamic analyses of thin elastic plates. The formulation leads to
boundary integrals with no singularities which is advantageous.
In the case of dynamic analysis, the concept of sequential cause and effect is introduced to
avoid domain integrals which would normally occur due to inertial and damping effects.
Numerical results in terms of deflections and stresses for static bending, and natural
frequencies, mode shapes and resonant frequencies for damped and undamped vibrations are
given and compared with available references, and found to closely agree. The proposed solution
is also uniformly convergent.
Keywords: elastic plates, static, vibration, reciprocal work theorem, complete functions,
boundary element method, sequential cause and effect.

INTRODUCTION

Boundary Integral or Boundary Element methods (BEM), the formulation of which can be
deduced through Maxwell-Betti’s reciprocal theorem have been used by many investigators for
both static and dynamic analyses of thin elastic plates [1-4]. In the latter case, not only boundary
but also domain integrals are involved due to the presence of inertial force [4]. Domain integrals
of unknown deflections and forces greatly increase the amount of data preparation and
computation and leads many researchers to study for efficient methods to transform them into
equivalent boundary integrals. One of such methods called the Multiple Reciprocity Method has
recently been introduced by Neves and Brebbia [5], and later, employed by Sladek, Sladek and
Tanaka [6] to treat the problem of harmonic vibration of thin elastic plates.
In the application of BEM to both static and dynamic plate problems, the deflection function
due to a point load is widely used as a fundamental or trial solution. However, this type of
functions causes difficult evaluation of boundary integrals due to singularities which occur in
some stress terms. Zielinski and Zienkiewicz [7] pointed to this disadvantage and suggested use
of a series of all possible solutions in a given domain. Such a series being considered as complete
was taken as a solution system with each term in it acting as a trial system in BEM formulation.
They illustrated the suggested method by solving a Poisson equation governing the problem of
torsion of a prismatic bar. Later, Leungvichcharoen and Suriyamongkol used this same
conception to develop an effective BEM formulation for static bending of thin elastic plates of
arbitrary planforms and support conditions based on Maxwell-Betti’s reciprocal theorem [8].
In this paper the concept of complete functions together with, Maxwell-Betti’s reciprocal
theorem as applied to static problems of thin elastic plates is first illustrated, and then extended to
vibration problems with and without viscous damping. The latter problems are time varying and
involve inertial forces which would normally lead to domain integrals of unknown functions as
mentioned above, but this is to be avoided by the following proposed technique : Displacement at
any time during vibration is treated as superposition of a sequence of displacements, each one is
caused by the inertial and damping effects of the one just before it. Taking static deflection as the
first term of the sequence, successive terms can be obtained as particular integrals of the plate
equation regarding the inertial and damping forces resulted from prior terms as external static
loads. Explicit recurrence formulae for the sequence are derived in this study.
Numerical results in terms of deflections and stress resultants of a static rectangular plate are
given for illustration and comparison with exact solution. For vibration problems, mode shapes
and natural frequencies are computed for several regular polygonal plates, and the results
compared with those of other investigators.

THEORY AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS

Static Problem
The governing equation of a homogeneous, isotropic, thin elastic plate is [9]

D ∇ 2 ∇ 2 w(x ) = q (x ) (1)

where w(x ) denotes deflection at point of co-ordinates x , q (x ) the external load per unit
area, ∇ 2 the harmonic differential operator, D flexural rigidity, which related to Young’s
modulus E , Poisson’s ratio ν and thickness h as D = Eh 3 [12(1 − ν 2 )] .
A general solution of equation (1) is composed of a particular integral, w P , and a
complementary solution, w C , in the form

w = w P + wC (2)
 If w C contains all possible solution admissible to a domain of interest it is said to be complete.
For instance, for an interior domain, the following set, C, of complementary solutions is
supposed to be complete [9] :

{
C 1, r 2 ; r m cos(mθ ), r m + 2 cos(mθ ); r m sin (mθ ), r m + 2 sin (mθ ) | m = 1,2,3,.. } (3)

where r and θ are polar co-ordinates. A solution may, therefore, be taken as

N
w = wP + ∑A w
j =1, 2 , 3,...
j j

(4)

in which w j ' s are members from the set C given in (3) above and A j ' s arbitrary constant
coefficients. N is a number large enough for required accuracy. Slopes and stress resultants can
be obtained from (4) by differentiation.
Denoting the domain and boundary of a plate problem by Ω and Γ , a Maxwell-Betti’s
reciprocal work equation for the system of forces and displacements corresponding to the
solution w as written in (4), called a solution system, and those corresponding to each term, wi ,
in the series, called a trial system, can be written as

∫∫ Ω Γ
( )
q wi dΩ + ∫ Vn wi − M n wni dΓ + ∑ R(x k )wi (x k )
k

( )
= ∫ w Vni − wn M ni dΓ + ∑ w(x k )Ri (x k )
Γ
(5)
k

where, corresponding to the solution system given in (4), w , wn , M n and Vn denote deflection,
normal slope, bending moment and Kirchoff’s shear on the boundary, while R(x k ) denotes the
corner force of a corner at x k , considered positive in the same direction as w . The subscript i is
designated for those corresponding to an i-th trial system.
N such equations as (5), which, given (4), are linear algebraic equations, can be written as :

∫ (V )
N

∑
j =1, 2 , 3,..
Aj 
 Γ
nj wi − M nj wni − w jVni + wnj M ni dΓ


[
+ ∑ R j (x k )wi (x k ) − w j (x k )Ri (x k )  = ]
k  (6)

Ω Γ
(
− ∫∫ q wi dΩ + ∫ − Vn wi + M wni + w Vni − w M ni dΓ
P P
n
P
n
P
)
[
− ∑ R P (x k )wi (x k ) − w P (x k )Ri (x k ) ] , i = 1,2,3,..., N
k
from which A j ' s can be determined provided that the boundary is properly prescribed.

Vibration Problem
The equation of motion of the plate displacement, W (x,t ) , at time t during vibration can be
written as :

∂ 2W ∂W
D ∇ 2 ∇ 2W + γ h +c =p (7)
∂t 2
∂t

Where γ , c and p(x,t ) refer to mass density, viscous damping coefficients and external time-
varying load respectively.
If p(x,t ) is harmonic with a constant angular frequency, ϖ , such that

p(x,t ) = q(x )e iϖ t (8)

the steady-state response displacement is

W (x,t ) = w(x ) e iϖ t (9)

where, unlike the previous meaning in static problem, this time, q(x ) and w(x ) are amplitude
functions of the time-varying load and displacement respectively.
Substitution of equations (8) and (9) into (7) yields the governing equation in space domain

D ∇ 2 ∇ 2 w(x ) − κ w(x ) = q(x ) (10)

in which

κ = ϖ 2 γ h − iϖ c (11)

Proposed concept of sequential cause and effect

General solutions of (10) would involve such higher transcendental functions as Bessel and
Kelvin functions which should not be convenient for further formulation. In this study, we
propose to view the amplitude function, w(x ) , as a superposition of a sequence of amplitude
functions, each being caused by the inertial and damping effects of the one just before it, and
itself, in turn, is the cause of the next function. Taking the static deflection, w (0 ) (x ) , due to q (x )
as the first of a sequence of M terms, one can write w(x ) according to this concept as

M
w(x ) = w (0 ) (x ) + ∑ w ( ) (x ) s
(12)
s =1, 2 , 3,...
In which, each successive term of w ( s ) can be obtained as a particular integral of the plate
equation regarding the inertial and damping force effects of w ( s −1) , i.e., κ w ( s −1) , as an external
static load. Thus,

D ∇ 2 ∇ 2 w (0 ) (x ) = q(x ) (13)

and

D ∇ 2 ∇ 2 w ( s ) (x ) = κ w ( s −1) (x ) ; s = 1,2,3,..., M (14)

As similar to (1), a general solution of (13) for an interior domain problem is composed of a
particular integral, w P , and a linear combination of w j ' s which are member functions in the set
C given in (3) :

N
w (0 ) = w P + ∑B w
j =1, 2 , 3,...
j j (15)

where B j ' s are arbitrary constant coefficients.

Given w (0 ) as above w (1) , w (2 ) , w (3 ) ,..., w ( M ) can be determined successively by repeated
integration of (14). This leads to recurrence formulae which related w ( s ) to w (0 ) in the form

N
w ( s ) = w P f P( s ) + ∑B w
j =1, 2 , 3,..
j j f j( s ) ; s = 1,2,3,... (16)

and, consequently, the amplitude function w(x ) in (12) may be written as

N
w = w P* + ∑B w
j =1, 2 , 3,..
j
*
j (17)

 M
  M

where w P* = w P 1 + ∑ f P( s )  ; w*j = w j 1 + ∑ f j( s )  (18)
 s =1, 2,3,..   s =1, 2,3,.. 

The recurrence function f j( s ) can be derived for each form of w j as listed in (3) as follows :
 (κ r 4 / 16 D ) s [(2s )!] 2 , for wj = 1


(κ r 4 / 16 D ) s [(2s + 1)!] 2 , for wj = r2


f j( s ) =  cos jθ  (19)
 j!(κ r / 32 D ) [ s!( j + 2 s )!]
4 s
, for wj = r j  
 sin jθ 
  

  cos jθ 
( j + 1)!(κ r / 16 D) [(2s + 1)!( j + 2s + 1)!]
4 s
, for w j = r j +2  
 sin jθ 
  

Furthermore, given q (x ) , w P as well as its recurrence function, f P( s ) , can also be derived

without difficulty. For example, for the case of uniform load q (x ) = q 0 ,

w P = q0 r 4 (64 D )
(20)
(s )
and f P = (κ r / 16)
4 s
[( s + 1)(2 s + 1)!] 2

Up to this step explicit expressions of slopes and stress resultants can be obtained by
differentiating the amplitude function in (17) and (18) in view of the recurrence functions given
in (19) and (20).

It should also be noted that, under this concept it is assumed that : during steady-state
vibration, the total effects of external load p(x,t ) and spontaneous inertial and damping forces
are represented by an equivalent load, p e (x,t ) , below

 M

p e (x, t ) = q (x ) + κ ∑ w ( s ) (x ) e iϖ t
 s =1, 2 , 3,... 

which upon substitution of w ( s ) from (16) becomes

 M N M 
p e (x, t ) = q (x ) + κ w P ∑ f P( s ) + κ ∑ Bjwj ∑ f ( )e ϖ j
s i t
( 2 1 )
 s =1, 2 , 3,... j =1, 2 , 3,... s =1, 2 , 3,... 

Proposed BEM formulation

Given external harmonic load in the form of (8), a solution of displacement W (x,t ) has been
derived by the proposed concept of sequential cause and effect in the form of (9), (17) and (18).
Under this concept the total effects of external load and inertial and damping forces are
represented by an equivalent load, p e (x,t ) , given in (21). This solution system of forces and
displacements are certainly in equilibrium and compatibility.
 Now, since any wj-function is a complementary solution of (1), its corresponding system of
forces and displacements must also in equilibrium and compatibility. Therefore it should be able
to be taken as a trial system versus the above mentioned solution system based on Maxwell-
Betti’s theorem, the reciprocal work equation for which is :

∫ (V )
N

∑
j =1, 2 , 3,...
Bj 
 Γ
*
nj wi − M nj* wni − w j*Vni + wnj* M ni dΓ


[ ]
M
+ ∑ R *j (x k )wi (x k ) − w*j (x k )Ri (x k ) + κ ∑ ∫∫ w j f j( s ) dΩ  =
Ω
k s =1, 2 , 3,...  (22)
(
− ∫∫ q wi dΩ + ∫ − VnP* wi + M nP* wni + w P*Vni − wnP* M ni dΓ
Ω Γ
)
[
− ∑ R P* (x k )wi (x k ) − w P* (x k )Ri (x k ) ] , i = 1,2,3,..., N
k

In which, w*j (x k ), w j* , wnj* , M nj* , Vnj* , R *j (x k ) ; w P* (x k ), w P* , wnP* , M nP* , VnP* and R P* (x k ) are
boundary values of deflections, normal slopes, bending moments, Kirchhoff’s shears and corner
forces corresponding to w*j and w P* respectively.
For a given plate with the boundary being properly prescribed, the set of N linear algebraic
equations, (22), can be solved for B j ' s leading to a solution of steady-state response to a given
harmonic load.
Furthermore, for undamped vibration, its eigenvalues and eigenvectors give the natural
frequencies and mode shapes of the plate. For damped vibration, however, one can vary the
loading frequency, ω , and plot a resonant curve, from which resonant frequencies of the plate
may be detected.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The following examples should illustrate application and justification of the proposed concept.

Example 1 − Static Problem

Consider a square plate of 2a width with two opposite edges simply supported and the other
two clamped subjected to a uniform load q 0 as shown in Fig.1. Poisson’s ratio ν = 0.25 .

a x,θ = 0
q0
θ
r
a
Fig.1 Example 1 and 2 − square plate
a a
y,θ = π / 2
For this static problem a particular integral may be taken as

w P = q 0 r 4 64 D (23)

and, due to its double symmetry, the complete set C given in (3) should be reduced to

{1, r 2
, r m cos(mθ ), r m + 2 cos(mθ )| m = 2,4,6,... }
Therefore, a solution in the form proposed in (4) is

q0 a 4  ρ 4 
∑ (c ρ j + d j ρ j + 2 )cos( jθ )
N
w(ρ ,θ ) =  + j (24)
D  64 j = 0 , 2 , 4 ,... 

in which ρ = r a and c j and d j are unknown coefficients.

The boundary conditions can be written as

w(secθ ,θ ) = M x (secθ ,θ ) = 0 , 0 <θ <π 4

(25)
w(cosecθ ,θ ) = w y (cosecθ ,θ ) = 0 , π 4 < θ < π 2

where M x and w y refer to bending moment and slope normal to the edge respectively.
Using the above solution and prescribed boundary conditions, 2 N + 2 linear algebraic
equations in the form of (6) can be formulated and solved for the 2 N + 2 unknown coefficients
c j ' s and d j ' s . Their numerical values for N = 6, 8 and 12 are shown in Table 1 below, while
the deflection, bending moments and Kirchoff’s shears are plotted against the nondimensional
arguments of x / 2a , and compared with exact solution [9].
As may be seen by the stable values of the first coefficients and vanishing of the last as the
series is extended, as well as the close agreement with exact solution of the results, the proposed
solution should be considered as uniformly convergent.

Table 1 Example 1 − coefficients cj and dj

N=6 N=8 N = 12
j cj dj cj dj cj dj
0 0.0313484148 -0.0442838482 0.0307506716 -0.0443208937 0.0306758033 -0.0443332870
2 0.0123636723 -0.0114129504 0.0126858505 -0.0118336491 0.0126511004 -0.0117884866
4 -0.0061257862 0.0037229829 -0.0055371816 0.0034665231 -0.0055038972 0.0034339944
6 -0.0010660693 0.0001729009 -0.0009411453 0.0000363629 -0.0009477806 0.0000724551
8 - - 0.0002056061 -0.0000723476 0.0001703742 -0.0000647171
10 - - - - 0.0000105886 2.35665259 x 10-6
12 - - - - -8.32352583 x 10 -6
1.87974269 x 10-6
 W (x,0) / W (0,0) exact M x (x,0) / M x (0,0) exact x /
2

− V x ( x,0) / V x (a,0) exact

x /2 x /
2
w(x, a ) / w(0,0) exact x / x /
2 2

x / − M y (x, a ) / M y (0, a ) exact − V y ( x,0 ) / V y (0, a ) exact

2

Fig.2 Example 1 − deflection, moments and shears

N = 6 N = 8 N = 12

Example 2−Undamped and Damped Vibration

If the plate in Example 1 is subjected to a harmonic load q 0 e iϖ t , the amplitude function according to
(17), (18), (19) and (20) and (23) can be written as

q0 a 4  M
(κ a 4 16 D) s ρ 4 s
w=
D 
 1 + ∑
s =1, 2 , 3,... [( s + 1) ( 2 s + 1)!]
2

 j!(κ a 4 32 D) s ρ 4 s
( )
N M
+ ∑ c j ρ 1 + ∑ j
( 2 6 )
j = 0 , 2 , 4 ,...  s =1, 2 , 3,... s!( j + 2s )!

( j + 1)!(κ a 4 16 D) s ρ 4 s 
( )  cos( jθ )
M
+ d j ρ j+2 1 + ∑
s =1, 2 , 3,... (2s + 1)!( j + 2s + 1)! 



and a set of 2 N + 2 linear algebraic equations in the form of (22) can be formulated for solution of c j ' s
and d j ' s .
For undamped vibration, eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the coefficient matrix of this set of equations
give the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the plate.
Taking M = 5 and N = 20 , the first three natural frequencies in nondimentional form called
frequency parameters, ϖ a 2 γ h / D , are obtained as 7.2377, 25.5540 and 32.2728 which closely agree
with the exact values 7.2365, 25.5532 and 32.2715 [10]. The three mode shapes are also shown in
contours in Fig 3.
 Mode Shape 1 Mode Shape 2 Mode Shape 3

ϖa 2
γ h / D = 7.2377 ϖa 2
γ h / D = 25.5540 ϖa 2
γ h / D = 32.2728
ϖ exact a 2 γ h / D = 7.2365 ϖ exact a 2 γ h / D = 25.5532 ϖ exact a 2 γ h / D = 32.2715

Fig.3 Example 2 natural frequencies and mode shapes

For damped vibration, plotting of the amplitude or, better, its logarithm at the center of the plate
against arguments of (2a ) 2 κ / D , called a resonant curve, can be used to detect the resonant frequencies.
For example, for damping ratio ξ = c /( 2γ hϖ ) = 0.01, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1, the resonant curve are
shown in Fig.4. From which, the resonant frequency parameters are detected as in Table 2.

W (0,0)D W (0,0)D 
Log 4 
q0 a 4  q0a 

E x a m p l e 3 ξ = 0.01 –
ξ = 0.025
ξ = 0.05
ξ = 0.1
(2a )2 κ / D
(2a )2 κ / D

Fig.4 Example 2 resonant curves of damped vibration

Table 2 Example 2 frequency parameters, ш

ш Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3
Undamped 7.2377 25.5540 32.2728
0.01 7.2363 25.5238 32.2673
0.025 7.2291 25.3753 32.2307
0.05 7.2033 24.9266 32.0726
0.1 7.1030 22.9930 31.0618

Example 3-Undamped Vibration of Regular Polygonal Plates

In this example, fundamental frequencies of regular polygonal clamped plates, as shown in Fig.5, are
determined and compared with other investigators’ results.
For a k-sides regular polygonal plate, a similar solution as in (26) may be taken, but, due to symmetry,
the index j is to take the values of 0, k , 2k , 3k ,..., N . Given M and N  as a multiple of k, the
fundamental frequencies can be determined as eigenvalues of the resulted equations.
To study convergence of the proposed method with respect to the number of solution functions
used in the series, we first fix the recurrence series at five terms (M = 5) and then vary N from
k to 4k . The natural frequencies in terms of frequency parameters, λ , thus obtained are as shown in
Table 3, from which rapid convergence can be observed.
Alternatively, by fixing N at 5k and varying M from two to five, results in Table 4 are obtained
which also show rapid convergence with respect to the recurrence series.
Note that the results are in good agreement with other investigators’ [11,12]

Table 3 Example 3 frequency parameters, ш, for M = 5

Corners
4 5 6 7 8
N
1k 35.224 19.623 12.737 9.010 6.738
2k 35.986 19.784 12.786 9.028 6.747
3k 35.985 19.788 12.790 9.031 6.749
4k 35.985 19.788 12.790 9.031 6.749

Table 4 Example 3 frequency parameters, ш, for N = 5k

Corners
4 5 6 7 8
M
2 36.063 19.823 12.812 9.046 6.760
3 35.986 19.788 12.791 9.032 6.749
4 35.986 19.787 12.790 9.032 6.749
5 35.986 19.787 12.790 9.032 6.749
From [11] and [12] 35.986* 20.010** 12.970 ** 9.127** 6.836**

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank the School of Civil Engineering, Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT), for providing them with the computer and typing facilities during the course
of this study. The first author would also like to thank khun Chanet Sangarayakul of AIT for his
valuable suggestion in the computation work.

REFERENCES

1. Tottenham, H. (1979) the Boundary Element Method for Plates and Shells, Development
in Boundary Element Methods Vol.1, pp.173-205, London
2. Laokeaw, Y., and Suriyamongkol, S. (1989) Analysis of Rectilinear Flat Plates of
Arbitrary Planforms by Boundary Integral Method, Structural Engineering and
Construction Achievement, Trend and Challenges Vol.2, pp.1099-1108, EASEC-2
Secretariat, AIT., Thailand
3. Amornsrisawat, S., and Suriyamongkol, S. (1989) Boundary Element Method for the
Analysis of Circular and Annular Plates, Structural Engineering and Construction
Achievement, Trend and Challenges Vol.2, pp.1121-1129, EASEC-2 Secretariat, AIT.,
Thailand
4. Providakis, C. P., and Beskos, D. E. (1989) Free and Forced Vibrations of Plates by
Boundary and Interior Elements, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. Vol.28, pp.1977-1994
5. Neves, A.C., and Brebbia, C. A. (1992) The Multiple Reciprocity Method Applied to
Thermal Stress Problems, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. Vol.35, pp.443-455
6. Sladek, V., Sladek, J., and Tanaka, M. (1993) Multiple Reciprocity Method for Harmonic
Vibration of Thin Elastic Plates, Appl. Math. Modelling, Vol.17, pp.438-476
7. Zielinski, A. P., and Zienkiewicz, O. C. (1985) Generalize Finite Element Analysis with T-
Complete Boundary Solution Functions, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. Vol.21, pp.509-528
8. Leungvichcharoen, S. (1997), Application of Maxwell-Betti’s Theorem and Complete
Function Theorem in Thin Plate Structures, Master Thesis, Chulalongkorn University,
Thailand
9. Timoshenko, S.P., and Woinowsky, K.S. (1959) Theory of Plate and Shells, McGraw-Hill,
New York
10. Leissa, A.W. (1969), Vibration of Plates, NASA SP-160
11. Young, D. (1950), Vibration of Rectangular Plates by the Ritz Method, J. Appl. Mech.,
Vol.17, pp.448-453
12. Irie, T., Yamada, G. and Narita, Y. (1978) Free Vibration of Clamped Polygonal Plates,
Bull. JSME, Vol.21, pp.1696-1702