A unified method to analyze free and forced vibration of stiffened plates under various edge conditions

A unified method to compute free and forced vibration of stiffened plates with reinforced ribs having different angles under classical and elastic boundary conditions is presented in this paper. Through introducing auxiliary sine functions in the displacement function and the virtual boundary spring stiffness technique, various boundary conditions can be easily obtained without needing to modify the shape function. In addition, the comparison between the free vibration results of the current paper with FEM and related literature verify the reliability of the presented method. Finally, a forced vibration test is conducted to further confirm the effectiveness of the current method for forced vibration of stiffened plates. The effects of geometric parameters of reinforced ribs on frequency parameters and vibration response of stiffened plates have also been discussed in detail, which may be useful for engineering designers in practical engineering.