Extension of Hencky bar-net model for vibration analysis of rectangular plates with rectangular cutouts

Comprising rigid bars and spring systems at the joints and in the cells, the Hencky bar-net model (HBM) has been shown to be a physical structural representation of the finite difference plate model (FDM). In this paper, the HBM is extended for the vibration analysis of rectangular plates with rectangular cutouts. This extension addresses the rotationally elastic and transverse spring stiffnesses for the HBM at the cutout corners. After verifying the HBM model by comparing the vibration results with existing solutions for some plate problems, the model is used to obtain some new free vibration solutions for plates having various boundary conditions including cracked corners modelled by free small rectangular cutouts. •Paper extends the Hencky bar-net model (HBM) to handle plate vibration with cutouts.•The spring stiffnesses for the HBM at the cutout corners have been established.•HBM free vibration solutions compare well with existing reference solutions.•New solutions are obtained for rectangular plate having cracked cutout corners.