Semi-analytical solution for three-dimensional vibration of thick continuous grading fiber reinforced (CGFR) annular plates on Pasternak elastic foundations with arbitrary boundary conditions on their circular edges

In this paper free vibration of continuous grading fiber reinforced (CGFR) annular plates on an elastic foundation, based on the three-dimensional theory of elasticity, for different boundary conditions at the circular edges is investigated. The foundation is described by the Pasternak or two-parameter model. The CGFR annular plates have an arbitrary variation of fiber volume fraction in the thickness direction. A semi-analytical approach composed of differential quadrature method (DQM) and series solution is adopted to solve the equations of motion. The fast rate of convergence of the method is demonstrated and comparison studies are carried out to establish its very high accuracy and versatility. Some new results for the natural frequencies of the plate are prepared, which include the effects of elastic coefficients of foundation, boundary conditions, material and geometrical parameters. Besides, results for CGFR plate with arbitrary variation of fiber volume fraction in the thickness direction of the plate are compared with discrete laminated composite plate. The main contribution of this work is to present useful results for continuous grading of fiber reinforcement in the thickness direction of a plate on an elastic foundation and comparison with similar discrete laminated composite plate. The interesting and new results show that non-dimensional natural frequency parameters of a functionally graded fiber volume fraction is larger than that of a discrete laminated and close to that of a 2-layer. The new results can be taken as the benchmark solutions for those from numerical methods and future researches.