Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Plates Stiffened by Parallel Beams with Deformable Connection

In this paper a general solution to the geometrically nonlinear dynamic analysis of plates stiffened by arbitrarily placed parallel beams of arbitrary doubly symmetric cross-section, subjected to dynamic loading, is presented. The plate-beam structure is assumed to undergo moderate large deflections and the nonlinear analysis is carried out by retaining nonlinear terms in the kinematical relations. According to the proposed model, the arbitrarily placed parallel stiffening beams are isolated from the plate by sections in the lower outer surface of the plate, making the hypothesis that the plate and the beams can slip in all directions of the connection without separation and taking into account the arising tractions in all directions at the fictitious interfaces. These tractions are integrated with respect to each half of the interface width resulting in two interface lines, along which the loading of the beams and the additional loading of the plate are defined. Six boundary value problems are formulated and solved using the analog equation method (AEM), a BEM-based method. Both free and forced transverse vibrations are considered and numerical examples with great practical interest are presented demonstrating the effectiveness, wherever possible, the accuracy, and the range of applications of the proposed method.