Effect of Cutout on Free Vibration Analysis of Circular Plates

In engineering applications, structural elements may take the form of a Circular plate. For such elements, the prediction of vibration characteristics when operated close to resonant modes becomes important, as a measure of failure. In addition to the shape, the effect of the cutout in the Circular plate also has an effect on the modal characteristics. The research presented in this report aims to perform modal analysis on a Circular plate, and utilizing FEM, the mode shapes of the plate are computed. The effects of cutout inclusion on the vibrational characteristics are found numerically. Boundary conditions which were used in this study are: Circular plate clamped on the outer periphery. Numerical studies were carried out for a conventional material (isotropic, Aluminium) as well as for composite material (orthotropic, GFRP) with the same constraints. The values of natural frequencies for various cases are tabulated and corresponding mode shapes are illustrated.