Natural vibrations of laminated anisotropic plates

This paper contains a description of the three-dimensional elasticity equations and the associated finite element model for natural vibrations of laminated rectangular plates. The numerical results for natural frequencies are compared with those obtained by a shear deformable plate theory. A number of cross-ply and angle-ply rectangular plates are analyzed for natural frequencies. For relatively thick plates, the plate element predicts frequencies higher than those predicted by the 3-D element.