Analytical and experimental investigation on vibrating, continuous rectangular plates of non-uniform thickness

This paper is concerned with the determination of the fundamental frequency of vibration of plates having stepped thickness. The planforms considered include rectangular and rectangular with a rectangular corner cut-out. The plate may carry an elastically mounted mass. Results of presumably good accuracy are obtained by using polynomial co-ordinate functions and the Rayleigh approach. An experimental investigation is also described for plates of uniform thickness.