A numerical insight into stress mode shapes of rectangular thin-plate structures

Abstract

Thin-plate structures are widely exploited in many areas due to their excellent structural properties. This study numerically investigates the mechanics characteristics of the stress mode shapes (SMSs) in thin plates. First, theoretical basis of the SMSs is concisely illustrated for thin-plate structures. Then, finite element models are constructed in numerical simulations. The SMSs of the flat plate are compared with the conventional displacement mode shapes (DMSs). The modal participation factors (MPFs) are used to extract the predominant SMSs. The SMSs in x-, y-, xy- directions and von Mises stress are evaluated in detail. Based on results of the flat plate, local thickness and elastic modulus modifications are performed to examine the changes in SMSs. Modal assurance criterion (MAC) is utilized to evaluate the modal data. The information of SMSs from the modified plates indicates the powerful capability for detecting the local variations of structural properties. Lastly, modal order determination via modal effective mass is numerically verified for accurate dynamic stress calculation.

Keywords:

• Stress mode shapes (SMSs)
• stress modal analysis (SMA)
• thin-plate structures
• local change
• dynamic stress

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding publication of this work.

Data availability statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62076126), the Joint Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China and Civil Aviation Administration of China (U2033202, U1333119), and the National Science and Technology Major Project (2017-VIII-0003-0114, 2017-VIII-0002). The authors also gratefully appreciate the Editor and the anonymous Reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.