Vibration mode localization in rib-stiffened plates with misplaced stiffeners in one direction

This study deals with vibration mode localization in rib-stiffened plates with randomly misplaced stiffeners in one direction. Kantorovichʹs method and finite strip method are applied to set up the transfer matrices of stiffened plates, respectively. Localization factors, which characterize the average rates of growth or decay of amplitudes of deflection, are determined by the method of transfer matrix. The smallest positive Lyapunov exponent of the corresponding discrete dynamical system is the localization factor of interest. Comparison of the results obtained from Kantorovichʹs method and finite strip method indicates excellent agreement. It is found that the larger the disorder of stiffeners, the larger the degree of localization in the vibration modes. The value of the localization factor increases with the increase of the torsional and flexural rigidities of the stiffeners.