Vibration of a rectangular plate with a central power-law profiled groove by the Rayleigh-Ritz method

The prediction of natural frequencies of rectangular plates where a profiled indentation is present is made using a Rayleigh-Ritz variational energy method. Panels with holes are often found for access cables and access gaps, and it is shown that the application of damping to the profile leads to a more efficient method of reducing vibration than covering a whole rectangular plate, which is advantageous where weight saving is necessary.