Fundamental frequency of an orthotropic rectangular plate with an internal centre point support

A method of calculating the fundamental frequency of an orthotropic rectangular plate with a centrally located point support and free edges is presented. The variational equation of motion is derived by applying Hamilton’s principle. The analytical approach determining the fundamental frequency of the plate is developed using the generalised Galerkin method and verified by comparison with the results of the finite element modal analysis. The comparisons of the computational results indicate that the fundamental frequency of the centre-supported plates can be calculated with sufficient accuracy using the analytical technique developed in this work. The approach presented in the paper can be efficiently employed when designing composite rectangular plates for a specified value of the fundamental frequency.