Michalopoulos, Constantine D.2022-10-062022-10-0619774237732https://hdl.handle.net/10657/12067Free vibration of a thin rectangular plate stiffened by an arbitrary number of stiffeners parallel to a pair of its edges and simply supported on all edges, is considered. The equation of motion for the stiffened plate is derived by considering the stiffeners as producing external line loadings on the plate. Dirac delta functions are used to discretely locate these external loadings at the stiffener locations in the equation of motion. Solutions of the equation of motion are obtained from a system of equations of order R x R, where R is equal to the number of stiffeners. Results for the natural frequencies and associated mode shapes are given for square plates stiffened by one, two, three and ten stiffeners and rectangular plates with two stiffeners. In each case, various stiffener flexural rigidities and linear mass densities were considered.application/pdfenThis item is protected by copyright but is made available here under a claim of fair use (17 U.S.C. Section 107) for non-profit research and educational purposes. Users of this work assume the responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing, or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires express permission of the copyright holder.Thesisreformatted digital