Study on the free vibration of thick functionally graded rectangular plates according to a new exact closed-form procedure

In this article, a new exact closed-form procedure is presented to solve free vibration analysis of functionally graded rectangular thick plates based on the Reddy's third-order shear deformation plate theory while the plate has two opposite edges simply supported (i.e., Levy-type rectangular plates). The elasticity modulus and mass density of the plate are assumed to vary according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents whereas Poisson's ratio is constant. Based on the present solution, five governing complicated partial differential equations of motion were exactly solved by introducing the auxiliary and potential functions and using the method of separation of variables. The validity and high accuracy of the present solutions are investigated by comparing some of the present results with their counterparts reported in literature and the 3-D finite element analysis. It is obvious that the present exact solution can accurately predict not only the out of plane, but also the in-plane modes of FG plate. Furthermore, a new eigenfrequency parameter is defined having its special own characteristics. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions, thickness to length ratio, aspect ratio and the power law index on the frequency parameter of the plate are presented.