On the linearization of the equations of motion of a rotating disk

In this paper, we present a consistent approach to reduce the fully nonlinear equations of a rotating disk to the classical linear equation derived by Lamb and Southwell and the nonlinear equations derived by Nowinski. The approach recognizes the fact that the out-of-plane deflection and the in-plane deflections are of different orders of magnitude. By using the ratio between the plate thickness and the outer radius as a measurement and carefully examining the reasonable magnitudes of all the variables involved, the fully nonlinear equations can be non-dimensionalized with all the terms being sorted according to their orders of magnitude. It is found that the classical linear equation derived by Lamb and Southwell can be recovered if all the terms of the lowest order of magnitude in the fully nonlinear equations are retained. If all the terms of the lowest two orders of magnitude are retained, Nowinski’s equations can then be recovered. Furthermore, the terms arising from in-plane deformation and rotary inertia are of the highest order and can be ignored in most of the applications.