Large amplitude response of rectangular plates subjected to transient loads

A multi-mode approach based on the Galerkin technique is employed for the analysis of the large amplitude dynamic response of rectangular plates under transient loads. The plate edges which may be clamped or simply supported are assumed constrained against inplane translation. The nonlinear forces arising from inplane and transverse motions are grouped into a single vector which is added to the forcing vector. The resulting initial value problem is solved numerically in the time domain. By way of illustration, a solution is obtained for a square plate subjected to uniform step loading and the results compare favourably with those available in the literature.