Large-amplitude free-vibration analysis of stiffened plates subjected to uniformly
distributed transverse loading with free flexural boundary conditions is presented.
The free edge is taken with different combinations of clamped and simply supported
end conditions for three types of stiffened plates classified according to number and
orientation of stiffeners. The computational domain is divided into an adequate
number of subdomains based on the number, orientation, and location of stiffeners
to generate the appropriate grid of computation points. Nonlinear strain
displacement relations are considered in the formulation but the effects of shear
deformation have been neglected. The analysis involves two steps. First the static
displacement field of the system is solved for. The second step takes up the
free-vibration analysis on the basis of the known static displacement field. The
mathematical formulation of the static problem is based on the principle of
minimum potential energy, whereas Hamilton’s principle has been applied for the
dynamic analysis. The results are validated with the published results of other
researchers. The dynamic behavior is presented in the form of backbone
curves in a dimensionless frequency-amplitude plane. Three-dimensional mode
shape plots are also presented along with contour plots in a few specific
cases.