Optimal design of internal ring support for rectangular plates against vibration or buckling

This paper is concerned with the optimal design of an internal ring support for rectangular plates against vibration or buckling. Presented herein is an effective numerical method for solving the optimization problem. It involves the use of (1) the so-called pb-2 Ritz method for the eigenvalue analysis and (2) the Nelder and Mead simplex method for searching for the optimal radius and location of the ring support which maximize either the fundamental frequency or the buckling load of the plate. By considering plates with different boundary conditions, extensive optimal results have been obtained. The sensitivity of the optimal eigenvalues with respect to the design of the ring support is also investigated. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited