A strip element method for the transient analysis of symmetric laminated plates

In this article, an extension of the strip element method has been developed to investigate the transient response of symmetric laminated plates. In this method, the two-dimensional governing equations based on the classical laminated plate theory is reduced to a set of ordinary di€erential equations using the principle of minimum potential energy. The resulting set of ordinary di€erential equations are then solved analytically to obtain the dynamic responses in the frequency domain. The Fourier transform technique is then used to obtain the time domain response. An exponential window method is employed to avoid singularities associated with Fourier integration. Transient responses of a rectangular symmetric laminated plate are presented for various loading and boundary conditions. The results obtained using the strip element method were found to compare favorably with exact or analytical solutions available in the literature