Free vibration analysis of cantilever plate partially submerged into a fluid

The free flexural vibration of a cantilever plate partially submerged in a fluid is investigated. The fluid is assumed to be inviscid and irrotational. The virtual mass matrix is derived by solving the boundary-value problem related to the fluid motion using elliptical coordinates. The introduction of the elliptical coordinates naturally leads to the use of the Mathieu function. Hence, the virtual mass matrix which reflects the effect of the fluid on the natural vibration characteristics is expressed in analytical form in terms of the Mathieu functions. The virtual mass matrix is then combined with the dynamic model of a thin rectangular plate obtained by using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. This combination is used to analyze the natural vibration characteristics of a partially submerged cantilever plate qualitatively. Also, the non-dimensionalized added virtual mass incremental factors for a partially submerged cantilever plate are presented to facilitate the easy estimation of natural frequencies of a partially submerged cantilever plate. It is found that the numerical results are in good agreement with the previous results, thus validating the proposed approach.