Convergence studies on static and dynamic analyses of plates by using the U-transformation and the finite difference method

This paper presents the exact static and dynamic analyses of simply supported rectangular plates. The analytical solutions for displacements, buckling loads, natural frequencies and dynamic responses are obtained by using the double U-transformation method and the finite difference method. After an equivalent system with cyclic periodicity in two directions is established, the difference governing equation for such an equivalent system can be uncoupled by applying the double U-transformation. Then the exact analytical finite difference solutions, the exact error expressions and the exact convergence rates are derived. These results cannot be obtained if other methods are used instead.