Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Free vibration of laminated composite plates subjected

to in-plane stresses using trapezoidal p-element
A.Y.T. Leung
a

a,*

, Cheng Xiao

a,b

, B. Zhu a, Si Yuan

Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong, Tatchee Avenue, HKSAR, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, China
Available online 9 April 2004

Abstract
A new trapezoidal p-element is applied to solve the free vibration problem of polygonal laminated composite plates subjected to
in-plane stresses with various boundary conditions. Legendre orthogonal polynomials are employed as enriching shape functions.
The element stiness and mass matrices are analytically integrated in closed form. Since one can always break a triangle into three
trapezoids by simply drawing three lines parallel to the three edges from any point in the triangle, the trapezoidal element is as good
as the triangular element. Free vibration of rectangular, triangular and polygonal laminated plates with various boundary conditions and stacking sequences is analyzed. The present solutions are monotonically convergent, and they are in good agreement with
the available published results.

2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Vibration; Laminated plate; Trapezoid; p-element; In-plane stresses

1. Introduction
Laminated plates are widely used in aircraft
and space systems because of their advantages over
isotropic plates in the higher stiness-to-weight and
strength-to-weight ratios. However, compared with
conventional isotropic plates, the analysis of layer plates
is more dicult due to their complex mechanical characteristics.
There are two commonly used conventional plate
theories for the laminated plates. One is the classical
plate theory (CPT) based on Kirchhos assumption.
Liew et al. [1,2] applied it to the free vibration analysis
of laminated triangular and trapezoidal plates by the
Ritz method, but for plates with complicated shapes, the
nite element method (FEM) can readily be used just by
assembling the elements. The other is the rst-order
shear deformation plate theory (FSDT) [3]. The theory
taking into account the shear deformation eect is more

Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2788-7600; fax: +852-27889643/2788-7612.

E-mail address: andrew.leung@cityu.edu.hk (A.Y.T. Leung).
0263-8223/$ - see front matter
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2004.03.011

reasonable for the analysis of laminated plates. Unfortunately, to the best knowledge of the authors, most
existing methods based on this theory are limited to
rectangular plates [35].
The performance of a FE model may be improved
usually by ner mesh (h-version) or by rened interpolation (p-version). In general, the convergence rate of pversion elements is more rapid than that of h-version
elements for the same number of degrees of freedom
(DOFs) [6]. Because of the geometrical characteristics of
the trapezoidal elements, the stiness and mass matrices
can be analytically integrated [79]. Since one can break
a triangle into three trapezoids by simply drawing three
lines parallel to the three edges from any point in the
triangle, the trapezoidal element is as versatile as the
triangular element.
In this paper, free vibration of laminated composite
plates based on FSDT subjected to in-plane stresses is
considered. Legendre orthogonal polynomials are employed as shape functions to improve the accuracy and
to avoid the shear-locking problem. Rectangular, triangular and polygonal plates with various boundary
conditions are analyzed. Comparison with published
results shows good accuracy and eciency of the present
trapezoidal p-element.

168

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

The linear straindisplacement relations of the laminate are

2. Formulation
2.1. Laminated plate theory

ou
ow
z x
ox
ox
owy
ov
ey z
oy
oy
owy
ou ov
ow
z xz
cxy
oy ox
oy
ox
ow
wy
cyz
oy
ow
wx
cxz
ox
ex

For simplicity, consider a symmetrically laminated

plate of thickness h, with the co-ordinate system at
the mid-plane of the laminate in Fig. 1. Each layer of
the laminate is of equal thickness. The ber direction
is indicated by an angle b, which is the positive
rotation angle of the principal material axes from the
arbitrary xy axes. The modulus of elasticity for a
layer parallel to bers is E11 and perpendicular to bers is E22 . In this paper, the x-axis are all parallel to
the hemline of the geometry of the element in the
local co-ordinates.
The displacement elds of FSDT are assumed to be
of the form [3]


ux; y; z ux; y zwx x; y

vx; y; z vx; y zwy x; y

In two dimensional problems, taking the transverse

displacement w as an example, it can be interpolated in
the following form
wn; g

p2 X
q2
X
k1

x; y; z wx; y
w

wk;l Nk;l n; g

l1

where the assumed shape functions Nk;l n; g

fk nfl g, and fk n, fl g are the C 0 Legendre orthogonal polynomials [10]. All displacements u, v, w, wx , wy
take the similar interpolation. When k, l 1 and 2, Eq.
(3) represents the usual FEM interpolation. The hierarchical shape functions, when one of k, l > 2, lead to
zero displacement at the corner nodes. With enriching
orthogonal functions, additional DOFs appear along
the four edges and in the interior. The DOFs at the four
corner nodes are represented by k, l 2; the DOFs
along the four edges are represented if one of k, l > 2.
Finally, the DOFs in the interior are represented by
both k, l > 2.

are the displacement components along

where

u,
v and w
the x, y and z axes, respectively. u, v and w are the
associated mid-plane displacements, and wx , wy are the
rotations of the normal about the y and x axes, respectively.

z
b

layer n

h/2
h/2

2.2. Stiness and mass matrix

The co-ordinate systems used to dene a trapezoidal

plate element are shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2(a) and (b) depict the x co-ordinate and y co-ordinate along one of the
two sides parallel to each other respectively. Fig. 2(c)
describes the mapped n  g square plane region. For the

layer 1

Fig. 1. The conguration of the laminated composite plate.

y
(b,c)
4

(d,c)
3

(1,1)

(c,d)
3
(0,a)

1
(0,0)

2
(a,0) x

1
(0,0)

x
2

(a)

(b)

(c,b)

(c)

Fig. 2. The trapezoidal element co-ordinate transformation.

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

case of Fig. 2(a), the Cartesian co-ordinates x and y can

be dened by
1
x 1  n1  g; 1 n1  g; 1 n1 g; 1  n1 g
4
 x1 ; x2 ; x3 ; x4 T
1
y 1  n1  g; 1 n1  g; 1 n1 g; 1  n1 g
4
T
 y1 ; y2 ; y3 ; y4 

4
where xi and yi are the values of Cartesian co-ordinates
at the four corner nodes, respectively. The Jacobian
matrix is dened in terms of the Cartesian co-ordinates
at the four corner nodes
"
#


oy
ox
1 d  b a eg 0
on
on
5
J ox oy 
4 d b  a en 2c
og
og
where e d  b  a. Then the determinant of Jacobian
is jJj cd  b a eg=8, and
"
#
c
0
2jJj
1
J
6
2
 dbaen
c
4jJj
The displacement elds u, v, w, wx and wy are interpolated using the C 0 Legendre orthogonal polynomials
mentioned in Section 2.1 as
8 9
u >
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
< v >
w
u
>
>
>
>
>
>
> wx >
;
:
wy
N1;1 I; N1;2 I; . . . ; N1;q2 I; N2;1 I; . . . ; Np2;q2 Ide
N  de

where de is the vector of generalized DOFs, and I is the

5 5 identity matrix. Substituting the expressions of the
displacement elds into Eq. (2) gives
8 9 2
3
o=ox
0
0
zo=ox
0
ex >
>
>
>
> 6
> >
>
7
> 6 0
>
o=oy
0
0
zo=oy 7
>
= 6
< ey >
7
o=oy o=ox
0
zo=oy zo=ox 7
e cxy 6
7
6
>
>
>
>
7
6
>
>
0
0
o=ox
1
0
c
>
>
5
4
>
>
> yz >
;
:
0
0
o=oy
0
1
cxz
e

uBd

For free vibration of laminated composite plates, the

strain energy of the element is given by

n Z hk1  Z Z
1X
e
T

 Q dx dy dz
U
2 k1 hk

n Z hk1  Z Z
1 eT X
T

d
9
B QB dx dy dz  de
2
hk
k1
where  is the strain components dened by Eq. (2), hk
and hk1 are the z-coordinates of the laminate corres-

169

ponding to the bottom and top surfaces of the kth layer,

is the
n is the total number of layers of the plate, Q
global reduced stiness matrix which can be referred to
any standard literatures such as [3,11].
To account for the in-plane stresses r0x , r0y and s0xy , the
potential energy of the element should be included. It is
obtained from the work done by the initial stresses
acting on the non-linear parts of the corresponding
Greens strain components of elasticity theory [12]
which are
1
2
eN
x ow=ox
2
1
2
eN
y ow=oy
2
1
eN
xy ow=oxow=oy
2

10

So the potential energy of the element becomes

Rh nR R 0
P
V e nk1 hkk1
rx ow=ox2 r0y ow=oy2
o
2s0xy ow=ow  ow=oydx dy dz
11
The kinetic energy is given by
n Z hk1  Z Z
1X
qu_ 2 v_ 2 w_ 2
Te
2 k1 hk

2
2
2
_
_
z qwx wy dx dy dz

12

For free vibration, when the Hamilton principle is

applied, the equation of the eigenvalue problem is obtained
K Kr  x2 Md 0
where
X
K
Ke ;

Kr

Ke

n Z
X
k1

Ker

hk1

hk

n Z
X
k1

hk

n Z
X
k1

hk1

hk1

hk

n Z
X

hk1

k1 hk
n Z hk1
X

Z Z
Z

Z Z

hk

1

Me

14

BT QBdxdy
dz
1

 jJjdndgdz
BT QB

1

BTr r0 Br dxdy dz

1

Ker ;

1

k1 hk
n Z hk1Z 1
X
k1

Z Z
Z

13

1

BTr r0 Br  jJjdndgdz

q  NT diag1;1;1;z2 ;z2 Ndxdy dz

1

q  NT diag1;1;1;z2 ;z2 N  jJjdndgdz

1

15

170

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

0 0 o=ox
Br
0 0 o=oy
 0

s0xy
r
x
0
r 0
sxy r0y

0
0

0
0

conditions are considered to demonstrate the high eciency of trapezoidal p-element.

16

In view of the coordinate mapping, the derivative in B

and Br should be replaced by




o=ox
1 o=on
17
J
o=og
o=oy

Free vibration for the fully clamped three-ply laminates with stacking sequence (0/90/0) is considered.
The aspect ratio of the plates is a=b 2 (see Fig. 3). Two
trapezoidal p-elements with dierent number of hierarchical terms are used in the analysis. The rst eight
nonp
dimensional frequency parameters k xb2 =p2 qh=D0
of the laminated plates with dierent thickness are listed
in Table 1 along with those of the Ritz method [4], where
D0 E22 h3 =121  m12 m21 . The Ritz method can obtain
very accurate solutions, but as a global method, it is
rather dicult to analyze plates with complicated shapes.
From the table, it can be observed that the convergence
rate of the present hierarchical element is very fast with
respect to the number of hierarchical terms. The present
solutions with six hierarchical terms are in excellent
agreement with those of the Ritz method.

0.4a

0.6a

It is noted that Eq. (15) should be integrated analytically; otherwise, numerical integration errors will inuence the computed results and monotonic convergence
of the predicted natural frequencies cannot be guaranteed [14]. Introducing the Gaussian quadrature, one can
use only the rst several terms of the additional higher
order functions to compute some lowest natural frequencies of the plates [15] as the higher order terms are
highly oscillatory. The problem becomes obvious for
higher order polynomials involved in the shape functions [13]. For the rectangular element and the skew
element, there is no problem in integrating the coecients of mass and stiness matrices analytically. For the
trapezoidal element, since the determinant of the Jacobian jJj is only related to g, n and g can be integrated
independently and the exact values of these integrals
may readily be obtained by some commercial packages
such as MATLAB, MAPLE or MATHEMATICA.
Similarly, the stiness and mass matrices of the case in
Fig. 2(b) can also be formulated.

3.1. Three-ply rectangular plates with fully clamped

boundary conditions

3. Numerical results and discussion

There are four common types of support conditions
for laminated plates: free (F), clamped (C), hard type
simply support (S) and soft type simply support (S*)
[16]. In this paper, laminated plates with dierent
stacking sequences, geometry parameters and boundary

0.4a

0.6a

Fig. 3. Trapezoidal mesh for rectangular plate.

Table 1
p
Frequency parameters k xb2 =p2 qh=D0 for fully clamped three-ply laminated rectangular plates (0/90/0) E11 =E22 40; G23 0:5E22 ; G12
2
G31 0:6E22 ; m12 0:25; j p =12
h=b

Method

Mode sequences
1

0.2

p3
p4
p5
p6
Liew [4]

3.051
3.047
3.045
3.045
3.045

4.262
4.250
4.249
4.249
4.248

5.940
5.823
5.801
5.792
5.792

6.348
5.908
5.905
5.905
5.905

7.061
6.581
6.545
6.536
6.535

7.963
7.697
7.691
7.688
7.688

0.05

p3
p4
p5
p6
Liew [4]

4.811
4.787
4.779
4.779
4.779

8.932
8.847
8.841
8.840
8.840

14.924
10.027
9.965
9.850
9.847

18.942
12.809
12.614
12.519
12.511

20.560
14.734
14.704
14.703
14.703

23.044
17.616
17.403
17.308
17.300

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

3.2. Simply supported symmetric cross-ply square plate

p-elements with four hierarchical terms are used in the

analysis of plates with the same mesh of the rst studied
case. Fast convergence rate of the present element and
excellent agreement with Reddys solutions are also
observed in both tables.

The natural frequencies of the symmetric cross-ply

(0/90/0) square plates with hard type simply supported boundary conditions (see Fig. 4) are computed
using four present trapezoidal p-elements. The results
are compared with those of Reddy [3]. Because of the
symmetry of the laminates, the in-plane displacements
are uncoupled from the transverse deection.
The rst
p
seven non-dimensional frequencies k xa2 q=E22 h2 of
the exural vibration are given in Table 2. Compared
with Reddys solutions for another case, simply supported anti-symmetric cross-ply laminated plates with
various laminated sequences (two-ply and eight-ply),
modulus ratios and aspect ratios, are carried out in
Table 3 to validate the present element. Two trapezoidal

3.3. Triangular plates with various boundary conditions

Since there are only a few published papers considering the vibration of triangular laminated plates [1],
equilateral triangular plates with various boundary
conditions and dierent thickness are analyzed herein.
The material properties of the laminated plates are the
same as those of the rst example in Section 3.1. The
rst six non-zero
non-dimensional frequency parameters
p
k xb2 =p2 qh=D0 are presented in Table 4. It should
be noted that the denition of each boundary condition
corresponds to the three edges of the triangular plate L1 ,
L2 and L3 , respectively (see Fig. 5). For instance,
boundary condition SCC represents that edge L1 is hard
type simply supported, while L2 and L3 are clamped. The
triangular plate is meshed by three trapezoidal p-elements and six hierarchical terms are involved in the
vibration analysis.

0.6a

0.5a

0.4a

171

0.5a

3.4. Polygonal laminates with three-ply symmetric

cross-ply layers
A hexagonal and octagonal three-ply symmetric
laminates (0/90/0) are shown in Fig. 6. They are fully
clamped and their circumscribed circles radius is R. The
thickness of the laminates is h 0:1R. The two polygons
are meshed into four and six trapezoidal p-elements
respectively (see Fig. 6). The rst ve natural frequencies
of the polygonal laminates computed with dierent

0.4a

0.6a

Fig. 4. Four trapezoidal elements for simply support square plate.

Table 2
p
Non-dimensional frequencies k xa2 q=E22 h2 for hard type
E11 =E22 25; G12 G13 0:5E2 ; G23 0:2E2 ; m12 0:25; j 5=6

simply

supported

three-ply

square

laminated

plates

(0/90/0)

h=a

Method

Mode sequences
1

0.1

p1
p2
p3
p4
p5
p6
Reddy [3]

12.388
12.169
12.163
12.163
12.163
12.163
12.163

19.834
19.071
18.734
18.730
18.729
18.729
18.729

32.253
31.333
30.995
30.948
30.933
30.932
30.932

36.465
33.073
31.163
30.991
30.991
30.991
30.991

48.401
34.956
34.451
34.435
34.435
34.435
34.434

58.130
44.795
42.842
42.606
42.583
42.582
42.585

66.828
51.696
48.438
46.036
45.950
45.923
45.923

0.01

p1
p2
p3
p4
p5
p6
Reddy [3]

16.896
15.247
15.184
15.183
15.183
15.183
15.183

28.608
24.266
22.839
22.822
22.817
22.817
22.817

64.109
48.272
41.273
40.263
40.160
40.153
40.153

73.042
61.143
56.246
56.223
56.210
56.210
56.210

358.09
65.267
60.295
60.224
60.211
60.211
60.211

411.06
81.856
71.933
66.705
66.620
66.366
66.364

485.98
84.058
81.763
70.905
70.775
70.765
70.764

172

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

Table 3
p
Non-dimensional fundamental frequencies k xa2 q=E22 h2
E11 =E22 25; G12 G13 0:5E2 ; G23 0:2E2 ; m12 0:25; j 5=6
h=b

Method

for

E11 =E22 10

hard

type

simply

supported

anti-symmetric

E11 =E22 25

laminated

E11 =E22 40

(0/90)

(0/90)4

(0/90)

(0/90)4

(0/90)

(0/90)4

Square plate a/b 1

0.1
Present
Reddy [3]
0.05
Present
Reddy [3]
0.01
Present
Reddy [3]

7.454
7.454
7.803
7.802
7.928
7.931

9.450
9.450
10.103
10.102
10.346
10.354

8.900
8.900
9.475
9.474
9.689
9.695

12.628
12.628
14.242
14.241
14.915
14.941

10.028
10.027
10.841
10.840
11.153
11.163

14.562
14.562
17.170
17.169
18.369
18.419

Rectangular plate a/b 3

0.1
Present
Reddy [3]
0.05
Present
Reddy [3]
0.01
Present
Reddy [3]

4.752
4.751
4.910
4.908
4.965
4.962

6.319
6.319
6.673
6.592
6.802
6.799

5.953
5.952
6.259
6.258
6.370
6.367

8.801
8.800
9.820
9.819
10.236
10.231

6.847
6.846
7.315
7.313
7.490
7.486

10.269
10.269
11.992
11.990
12.768
12.763

Table 4
p
Non-dimensional frequencies (k xb2 =p2 qh=D0 ) of triangular
E11 =E22 40; G13 G12 0:6E22 ; G23 0:5E22 ; m12 0:25; j 5=6
BC

h=a

FFF

0.1
0.05
0.01

CCC

0.1
0.05
0.01

CFF

0.1
0.05
0.01

SCC

0.1
0.05
0.01

11.65
16.07
20.90

CSS

0.1
0.05
0.01

S*S*S*

0.1
0.05
0.01

laminated

plates

plates

(0/90/0)

with

various

boundary

conditions

Mode sequences
1

15.88
20.36
24.84

17.18
23.47
28.04

17.18
23.47
28.04

21.84
33.83
49.61

30.34
48.15
74.96

30.34
48.15
78.49

30.43
49.25
78.49

7.586
9.174
10.24

14.30
19.37
24.80

14.73
21.18
28.20

17.74
24.84
30.91

20.37
30.53
42.36

21.25
31.81
44.25

29.04
45.00
67.76

29.47
45.76
69.42

30.16
47.72
72.65

10.16
13.33
16.39

19.36
28.00
36.80

20.25
29.21
37.76

28.12
42.43
60.34

28.76
43.41
62.48

29.34
45.38
65.14

8.535
10.44
12.27

18.70
25.92
31.93

18.70
25.92
31.93

27.69
40.75
54.36

27.69
40.75
54.36

27.86
41.48
55.52

7.060
7.926
8.545
13.15
18.83
26.19
2.491
2.769
2.924

2
7.060
7.926
8.545
21.84
33.82
49.61
6.449
7.961
8.970

number of hierarchical terms are presented in Table 5. It

can be found that the convergence of the data is fast and
monotonic.
3.5. Plates subjected to in-plane stresses
To study the vibration characteristic of laminated
plates subjected to in-plane stresses, a fully clamped

3
8.142
9.237
9.981

isotropic square plate with dierent thickness is analyzed rst. The mesh of the plate is the same as that of
the second studied case. The Poissons ratio v is taken to
be 0.3 and the shear correction factor is set to 5/6. The
rst six non-dimensional frequencies of the plate subjected to in-plane stresses of the proposed element are
compared with those of Liew et al. [17] in Table 6, in
which k r0x h=p2 D r0y h=p2 D with D is the exural

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

173

0.5L

60

x
y

L2

0.366L

60

60

L3

Fig. 6. Geometry sizes and meshes for clamped polygonal plates.

L1
0.713L

0.287L

Fig. 5. Mesh for equilateral triangular plate.

rigidity and s0xy is assumed to be zero. Good agreement

between them can be observed.
Then, a simple supported three-ply laminated rectangular plate (0/90/0) subjected to in-plane stresses
k rN hb2 =p2 D is considered. The ratios are a=b 2 and
h=b 0:2. The in-plane stresses are r0x rN 1 2z=h,

r0y r0x , s0xy 0, where rN is taken to be a constant so

that the initial stress eld is uniform. The trapezoidal
mesh is the same as that of the rst studied case. The
rst ve non-dimensional frequencies of the plate are
listed in Table 7. The results of the present element
without in-plane stresses (k 0) are in excellent agreement with those of Liew [4]. The rst ve non-dimensional frequencies are plotted in Fig. 7 as a function of
rN . These frequencies increase with the increasing of rN ,

Table 5
p
Non-dimensional frequencies k xR2 qh=D0 (D0 E22 h3 =121  m12 m21 ) for fully clamped three-ply polygonal laminates (0/90/0)
E11 =E22 25; G13 G23 0:5E22 ; G12 0:2E22 ; m12 0:25; j 5=6
Method

Mode sequences
1

Hexagon

p3
p4
p5
p6
p7

28.339
28.321
28.318
28.318
28.318

41.290
41.246
41.239
41.237
41.237

57.336
57.265
57.249
57.247
57.247

59.272
58.591
58.486
58.482
58.481

72.496
72.068
72.047
72.040
72.040

Octagon

p3
p4
p5
p6
p7

26.506
26.503
26.502
26.502
26.502

37.438
37.388
37.386
37.385
37.385

54.482
54.402
54.374
54.373
54.372

54.668
54.643
54.639
54.639
54.638

65.394
65.252
65.244
65.243
65.242

Table 6
p
Non-dimensional frequencies (k xb 21 mq=E for full clamped square isotropic plate subjected to in-plane stresses m 0:3; j 5=6
h=b

Method

Mode sequences
1

0.01

)5

Present
Liew et al. [17]
Present
Liew et al. [17]

0.2417
0.2417
0.0421
0.0421

0.4407
0.4407
0.2448
0.2448

0.6177
0.6177
0.4142
0.4141

0.7338
0.7337
0.5286
0.5286

0.7358
0.7357
0.5341
0.5340

0.8993
0.8992
0.6899
0.6899

Present
Liew et al. [17]
Present
Liew et al. [17]

2.2563
2.2563

3.9012
3.9012
1.7008
1.7008

5.2346
5.2345
2.8971
2.8970

6.0424
6.0423
3.6436
3.6435

6.0752
6.0752
3.7347
3.7246

7.1632
7.1631
4.6494
4.6492

5
0.1

)5
5

174

A.Y.T. Leung et al. / Composite Structures 68 (2005) 167175

Table 7
Non-dimensional frequencies for fully clamped three-ply laminated plates (0/90/0) subjected to in-plane stresses k trN b2 =p2 D; D
E22 h3 =121  m12 m21 E11 =E22 40; G23 0:5E22 ; G12 G31 0:6E22 ; m12 0:25; j p2 =12
Method

Mode sequences
1

)0.5

p
p
p
p

3
4
5
6

1.7758
1.7753
1.7752
1.7752

3.4574
3.4555
3.4554
3.4554

4.9663
4.6768
4.6661
4.6628

5.3693
5.3400
5.3388
5.3387

5.8408
5.5811
5.5618
5.5583

p3
p4
p5
p6
Liew [4]

1.9398
1.9393
1.9393
1.9393
1.9393

3.5959
3.5940
3.5939
3.5939
3.5939

5.1788
4.8892
4.8789
4.8756
4.8755

5.5109
5.4868
5.4856
5.4855
5.4855

6.0532
5.7920
5.7729
5.7693
5.7691

0.5

p
p
p
p

3
4
5
6

2.0910
2.0906
2.0905
2.0905

3.7293
3.7273
3.7272
3.7272

5.3828
5.0926
5.0826
5.0793

5.6540
5.6297
5.6285
5.6284

6.2583
5.9954
5.9764
5.9728

Acknowledgements

7
6

The research is supported by grant number CityU

1278/03E of the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong
SAR, China.

References

2
1

1
0
-4

-3

-2

-1

Fig. 7. Frequencies versus initial stress.

and lines of the fourth and fth non-dimensional frequencies are crossed with each other.

4. Conclusion
A trapezoidal p-element with analytical integration
for the free vibration of laminated composite plates is
presented. The Legendre orthogonal polynomials are
employed as the enriching shape functions. The in-plane
stresses of plates can be involved in the vibration analysis. The element is applied to the vibration of laminated
rectangular, triangular and polygonal plates with or
without in-plane stresses. Computed results show that
the convergence rate of the element is very fast with
respect to the number of hierarchical terms, and comparison between the solutions of the present element and
those of available published methods proves that the
element is very ecient for the free vibration analysis of
laminated plates.

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