Mechanics of homogeneous and non-homogeneous thin plates: A symbolic simulation platform

The present work presents a learning platform focused on the analysis of thin rectangular plates, which main objectives beyond the prediction of the mechanical behaviour of these structures, are the improvement of the perception of the physical phenomena and the parameters involved in the evaluation of the structural model. The platform developed allows studying homogeneous and non homogeneous rectangular plates, supported along its four edges and submitted to arbitrary loads. Intermediate outputs are presented either in graphical or numerical format, and cover all relevant physical quantities related to static and free vibrations analysis of these plates. To enable the development of this work in such a generic form, this simulation didactic platform stands upon a symbolic computation environment. The present simulation platform is part of a major project that is being developed in the context of the mechanical design scientific area, and it intends to improve the learning process in structural mechanics at BSc and MSc levels.