Axisymmetric Vibrations of Circular and Annular Plates With Variable Thickness

In this work the exact axisymmetric vibration frequencies of circular and annular variable thickness plates are found. The solution is obtained using the exact element method developed earlier. It allows for the exact solution of problems with general polynomial variation in thickness using infinite power series. The solution is exact up to the accuracy of the computer. The natural frequencies of vibration are found as the solutions of the frequency equation. Normalized values for the natural frequencies are given for linear, parabolic and cubic variations of the plate thickness, for circular and annular plates, with four types of boundary conditions on the inner and outer boundaries.