A semi-analytical solution for free vibration of thick orthotropic annular sector plates with general boundary conditions, internal radial line and circumferential arc supports

Abstract The aim of this paper is to put forward a semi-analytical solution to conduct the free vibration analysis of thick orthotropic annular sector plates with general boundary conditions, internal radial line and circumferential arc supports for the first time. Based on the Mindlin plate theory, stationary energy principle and Rayleigh-Ritz method, the governing eigenvalue equation is derived for thick orthotropic annular sector plates of different radii, sector angles, thickness ratio, line/arc supports and various boundary conditions along the radial and circumference edges. The main innovation point of this paper lies in breaking the classical boundary barrier by using an improved Fourier series to replace the traditional Fourier series. By comparing with those results in open reported literature, the present method proves to be of excellent accuracy and reliability. In addition, in order to enrich the research, some results involving thick orthotropic annular sector plates with various boundary conditions are presented firstly, which can be acted as benchmark data for the future research.