Abstract
The transverse vibrations of a rectangular plate with the Kelvin type boundary conditions at four corners are investigated. The plate is modeled as being attached to four lumped spring-damper systems at the corners. An analytical procedure is proposed based on the modal analysis. The completely free case of the plate is first studied. The expressions for the eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions of the plate are obtained by utilizing the separation of variables. Then, the case in which the stiffness and the viscous damping as external forces acting at the corners of the plate is studied. Following the modal analysis procedure, the general solution for the equation of motion of the rectangular plate is derived. Some numerical results are presented.