Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2015
In this paper, exact vibration frequencies of circular, annular and sector membranes with a radial power law density are presented for the first time. It is found that in general, the sequence of modes may not correspond to increasing az-imuthal mode number n. The normalized frequency increases with the absolute value of the power index |ν|. For a circular membrane, the fundamental frequency occurs at n = 0 where n is the number of nodal diameters. For an annular membrane, the frequency increases with respect to the inner radius b. When b is close to one, the width 1 – b is the dominant factor and the differences in frequencies are small. For a sector membrane, n – 1 is the number of internal radial nodes and the fundamental frequency occurs at n = 1. Increased opening angle β increases the frequency.