Calculating the exact solution to the differential equations that describe the motion of a circular plate clamped or pinned at the edge, is laborious. The calculations include the Bessel functions and modified Bessel functions. In this paper, we present a brief method for calculating with approximation, the fundamental frequency of a circular plate clamped or pinned at the edge. We’ll use the Dunkerley’s estimate to determine the fundamental frequency of the plates. A plate is a continuous system and will assume it is loaded with a uniform distributed load, including the weight of the plate itself. Considering the mass per unit area of the plate, and substituting it in Dunkerley’s equation rearranged, we obtain a numerical parameter K02, related to the fundamental frequency of the plate, which has to be evaluated for each particular case. In this paper, have been evaluated the values of K02 for thin circular plates clamped or pinned at edge. An elliptical plate clamped at edge is also presented for several ratios of the semi–axes, one of which is identical with a circular plate.
The Vibrations of Circular Plates and their Relation to Bessel Functions