Abstract
The finite element method(FEM) is the most widely used and powerful method for structural analysis. In general, in order to analyze complex and large structures, we have used the FEM. However, it is necessary to use a large amount of computer memory and computation time for solving accurately by the FEM the dynamic problem of a system with many degree-of-freedom, because the FEM has to deal with very large matrices in this case. Therefore, it was very difficult to analyze the vibration for plate structures with a large number of degrees of freedom by the FEM on a personal computer. For overcoming this disadvantage of the FEM without the loss of the accuracy, the finite element-transfer stiffness coefficient method(FE-TSCM) was developed. The concept of the FE-TSCM is based on the combination of modeling technique in the FEM and the transfer technique in the transfer stiffness coefficient method(TSCM). The merit of the FE-TSCM is to take the advantages of both methods, that is, the convenience of the modeling in the FEM and the computation efficiency of the TSCM. In this paper, the forced vibration analysis algorithm of plate structures is formulated by the FE-TSCM. In order to illustrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the FE-TSCM, results of frequency response analysis for a rectangular plate, which was adopted as a computational model, were compared with those by the modal analysis method and the direct analysis method which are based on the FEM.