Free vibration analysis by the superposition method of rectangular Mindlin plates with internal columns resting on uniform elastic edge supports

Free vibration analysis of rectangular Mindlin plates is carried out via the superposition method and is shown to produce accurate results. The analytical method proposed by the authors in this paper solves the problem for the case where the plate has simultaneous elastic edge and internal supports. The conditions of edge supports are uniform lateral, rotational and torsional elastic supports, whereas, the internal supports are column supports with finite area. Compatibility between the plate and column is achieved by requiring that the column and plate rotations be equal. The results presented herein are verified through comparison with results presented by others. Numerical examples presented in this study confirm that the analytical method is able to model the property of the elastic edge supports while simultaneously considering the effect of column restraint, an effect which increases with column number and area.