New Straightforward Benchmark Solutions for Bending and Free Vibration of Clamped Anisotropic Rectangular Thin Plates

Abstract This study presents new straightforward benchmark solutions for bending and free vibration of clamped anisotropic rectangular thin plates by a double finite integral transform method. Being different from the previous studies that took pure trigonometric functions as the integral kernels, the exponential functions are adopted, and the unknowns to be determined are constituted after the integral transform, which overcomes the difficulty in solving the governing higher-order partial differential equations with odd derivatives with respect to both the in-plane coordinate variables, thus goes beyond the limit of conventional finite integral transforms that are only applicable to isotropic or orthotropic plates. The present study provides an easy-to-implement approach for similar complex problems, extending the scope of finite integral transforms with applications to plate problems. The validity of the method and accuracy of the new solutions that can serve as benchmarks are well confirmed by satisfactory comparison with the numerical solutions.