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Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

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 International Journal of Engineering Research And
E-ISSN : 2454-6135
Advanced Technology (IJERAT)
Vol.3 (10) Oct -2017
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7324/IJERAT.2017.3138

Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

Osama Mohammed Elmardi Suleiman1, Ahmed F. A. Algarray2, and Imad-Eldin Mahmoud Mahdi3
Assistant Professors1, 3
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering and Technology,
Nile Valley University, Atbara,
River Nile State,
Sudan
Lecturer2
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering,
Red Sea University, Port Sudan,
Red Sea State,
Sudan
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract

This study addresses the problem of free vibration of laminated composite beams. Six end boundary conditions for
beams are considered: clamped-clamped; hinged-hinged; free-free; clamped-hinged; clamped-free; and hinged-free
beams. The problem is analyzed and solved using the energy approach which is formulated by a finite element model.
This method of analysis is verified by comparing the numerical results obtained for AS/3501-6 graphite/epoxy
composites with those found in literature. The effects of the aspect ratio, fiber orientation, and the beam end-
movements on the non-dimensional natural frequencies of beams were included.

The results of the non- dimensional frequencies for some special cases of lamination were included. The mode shapes
of free vibration for all boundary conditions were plotted. It was found that symmetrically  /   /   /   and anti-
symmetrically  /   /  /    laminated beams of similar dimensions and end conditions have equal natural
frequencies. The longitudinal modes of free vibration are sensitive to axial motion of the ends, whereas the transverse
modes depend solely on the condition of the lateral supports. It was also found that natural frequencies decrease as
the aspect ratio and/or the angle of orientation increase. The free-free and hinged-free beams are found to have the
highest frequencies of all beams although they look less constrained.

Keywords:Laminated beam, finite element, shears deformation, natural frequencies, and free vibration.

1. INTRODUCTION
Composite have been used in engineering structures over the last six decades or so. They could be seen in a variety of
applications as in craft wings and fuselage, satellites, helicopter blades, wind turbines, boats and vessels, tubes and

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Osama Mohammed et al., Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

tanks, robot arms, brake pedals and springs etc. Their advantages over traditional materials are widely recognized and
these are high strength to weight ratio, and their properties which can be tailored according to need. Other advantages
include high stiffness, high fatigue and corrosion resistance, good friction characteristics, and ease of fabrication. They
are made of fiber such as glass, carbon, boron, etc. embedded in matrix or suitable resin that acts as binding material.
A laminated composite or simply a laminate is a structural element ( beam, plate, shell ) made up of unidirectional
plies stacked together with appropriate orientation that achieve design requirements ( see Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 Three plies with their fiber arranged in three different orientations

The ever growing use of composites in industry has led to tremendous advancements in the understanding of their
micro and macro behavior. Many mathematical models for laminates subjected to static and dynamic loading have
been developed. The knowledge of the few lower natural frequencies of a structure is of utmost importance in order to
keep it in service from being subjected to unnecessary large amplitude of motion which can cause immediate collapse
or ultimate failure by fatigue.
Broadly speaking the mathematical models for laminates can be divided into three groups depending on whether shear
deformation and rotary inertia (in case of vibration) are accounted for or not. Shear deformation is more pronounced in
composites than in metals due to low ratio of inter laminar shear modulus to in-plane elastic modulus. The three
mathematical models are:

(i) Classical Laminated Theory (CLT): This theory neglects shear deformation and assumes that sections which
are straight and normal to the mid-plane of the laminate remains so after deformation as shown in Figure 2(a).
Because shear deformation is neglected, CLT is applicable only to thin laminates. For more information the
reader could refer to Abarcar and Cubif [1].
(ii) First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT): This theory accounts for shear deformation but needs
correction. In FSDT, a linear through thickness displacement field is assumed which leads to a constant
transverse shear strain or stress that violates the state of zero shear stress on the free surface of the laminate. To
reduce error induced by assuming constant rather than parabolic shear stress a shear correction factor is used as
suggested by Cowper [2]and Madabhusi & Davalos[3]. The theory is applied by Chen and Yang [4]and
Chandrashekhara & Krishnamurthy [5], Mahmoud Yassin and Osama Mohammed Elmardi Suleiman [6] and
[7].The pattern of deformation is given in Figure 2(b).
(iii) Higher-order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT): In fact, this is a family of theories rather than one single
theory. In HSDT, the stress distribution through thickness accounts for section warping after deformation as
seenin Figure 2(c). When displacement through thickness is denoted by u, then according to HSDT:

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 International Journal of Engineering Research And Advanced Technology Vol.3 (10) Oct -2017

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
The number of terms included in the displacement differentiates between different higher-order shear deformations
theories. For example see Livingston [8]and Helinger& Reddy[9]. As expected HSDT become more and more
complicated, as the number of unknowns increases. Furthermore, HSDT introduces abstract quantities in addition to
those which can be physicallyinterpreted.

Comparison between CLT, FSDT and HSDT can be found in Yildirim&Kiral[10]and Song &Waas[9]. It is claimed
that the error in CLT is large, and that HSDT is not superior accuracy than FSDT.

Figure 2 The Three Mathematical Models of Laminated Beams: (a) Deformation of a beam portion according
to CLT, (b) Deformation of a beam portion according to FSDT, (c) Deformation of a beam portion according
to HSDT

A theoretical vibration analysis of composite beams with solid cross sections was presented by Teoh and Huang [12].
Abramovich[13] studied laminated composite beams considering several boundary conditions. Abramovich and
Livshits [14] presented numerical results for the free vibration of a laminated cross-ply composite beams.. FSDT was
used by Teboub and Hajela [15] to analyze the free vibration of general composite beams, while Ghugal and Shimpi
[16] presented a review paper about refined theories for the structural analysis of shear deformable isotropic of
laminated beams. Depending on rotary inertia and shear deformation in addition to the coupling between the bending
and tensional deformations , the dynamic stiffness matrices have been developed by Banerjee and Williams [17].
Marur and Kant [18] presented the higher order model for the transient dynamic analysis of composite and sandwich
beams. Lee [19] presented the natural frequencies for a laminated beam with delimitations (i.e. a beam with defects in

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Osama Mohammed et al., Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

the bonding material between layers).Banerjee [20] added the shape modes of a cantilever composite beam [45/0] to
his numerical results.
Some other authors presented different finite element techniques for the problem in addition to the previous ones.
These are Subramanian [21], and Yildirim[22]. The latter two authors employed a first order-shear deformation
theory, while the former one used a trigonometric shear deformation theory. Matsunaga [23]investigated the natural
frequencies, inter-laminar stresses and buckling stresses of composite beams by applying the one-dimensional global
higher-order theories that considered the effect of transverse shear deformation. Karama et al. [24]presented a multi-
layer laminated composite beam, in this study the exponential function used to predict the mechanical behavior of
composite beams. Kapuria et al. [25]assessed a zigzag 1D laminated beam theory and compared the analytical
solutions of simply supported beam to the exact 2D elasticity solutions. Murthy et al. [26]supposed a refined2-node
beam element based on the TOSDBT for the free vibration analysis of asymmetrically stacked composite beams.
Aydogdu[27] and [28] analyzed the free vibration for cross-ply and angle-ply laminated beams with different
boundary conditions. Subramanian [29] developed the free vibration analysis of laminated composite beams applying
two higher-order displacement-based shear deformation theories and finite elements based on the theories. Wu and
Chen [30]assessed several displacement-based theories by analyzing the free vibration and the buckling behaviors of
laminated beams with arbitrary layouts. Vidal and Polit[31] and [32] developed a 3-nodedbeam element on the basis
of a sinus distribution with layer refinement for the dynamic analysis of laminated beams. Vidal and
Polit[33]performed the vibration analysis of composite laminated beams by using the Murakami’s zigzag function in
the sine model. Vo and Thai [34] and [35] presented the free vibration of axially loaded composite beams with
arbitrary lay-ups applying the parabolic shear deformation theory. Based on the sinusoidal shear deformation theory,
Vo et al. [36]studied the vibration and buckling of composite beams with arbitrary lay-ups. Carrera et al.
[37]presented hierarchical beam elements used a unified formulation, where the displacement components were
expanded in terms of the section coordinates. On the basis of a unified formulation, Biscani et al. [38]formulated
variable kinematics beam elements, which were combined through the Arlequin method. Giunta et al. [39]addressed a
free vibration analysis of functionally graded beams via hierarchical models, which were derived via a unified
formulation. Giunta et al. [40]presented a unified formulation for the free vibration and elastic stability analysis of
three-dimensional sandwich beams, in which shear deformation, in- and out-of-plane warping and rotary inertia were
accounted for. Giunta et al. [41]investigated the free vibration of simply supported, cross-ply beams via several
higher-order displacement-based theories accounting for non-classical effects. Jun Li et al. [42]compared the various
shear deformation theories for free vibration of laminated composite beams with general lay-ups.

2. MODELLING ANALYSIS

Consider a beam of length L, breadth b and depth h made up of n plies with varying thickness, orientation and
properties, but perfectly bonded together as shown in Figure 3.

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Figure 3 Composite Laminated Beam

Treat the beam as a plane stress problem, and employ first-order shear deformation theory. The longitudinal
displacement U  and the lateral displacement W  can be written as follows:

U  x , z , t   u  x , t   z  x , t  
 (1)
W  x , z ,t   w x ,t  

Where u and w are the mid-plane longitudinal and lateral displacements,  is the rotation of the deformed section about

the y-axis, z is the perpendicular distance from mid-plane to the layer plane, and t is time.

The Strain-Displacement Relations:

U u  
1   z 
x x x 
 (2)
W U w 
5    

x z x 

Where:  1 is the longitudinal strain, and  5 is the through-thickness shear strain.

By employing 3-noded lineal element as shown in Figure 4:

H/2 H/2

ø2 ø3
ø1 1 2 3

u1 u2 u3

w1 r = -1 w2 r = 0 w3 r =1
r
X

Figure 4 Composite Laminated Beam with 3-Noded Lineal Element

The displacements can be expressed in terms of shape function and nodal displacements:

(3)

The shape functions are: ( ), , ( )

From equations (2) & (3), the strains can be written as: (4)

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Osama Mohammed et al., Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

Where [ ]

And is the vector of nodal displacements [ ]

The stress – strain relation: (5)

Where [ ] , [ ] and the matrix containing the transformed elastic constants

[ ]

Substitute equation (4) in equation (5): (6)

The strain energy: ∫ (7)

(8)

Where ∫

The kinetic energy: ∫ *( ̇ ̇) ̇ +

Where is density and the dot denotes differentiation with time.

∫ Or (9)

Where ∫

[ ]& [ ]

In the above derivation it is assumed the motion is harmonic and is circular frequency.

In the absence of damping and external nodal load, the total energy is:

Or

The principle of minimum energy require that

The condition yields the equation of motion

Or globally: [ ] (10)
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Where

∑ ∑ ∑

And n is number of elements. To facilitate the solution of equation (10), we introduce the following quantities:

[ ] ∑ ∫ [ ] ∑ ∫

Where is the shear correction factor.

The transformed elastic constants are: ( )

 
In which: , ,
       

, , , ,

And is the angle of orientation of the ply with respect to the beam axis.

[ ] ∑ ∫ [ ]

Non –dimensional quantities used in the analysis are:

̅ ( ) , ̅= , ̅ ( ) , ̅ ( ) , ̅ ( ) ,̅ ( ) , ̅ ( ) ,

̅ ( ) , , ̅ ( ) , ̅ ( ) , ̅ √

The element stiffness matrix: ∫

[ ]

The stiffness matrix is symmetrical matrix. The non-zero non-dimensional element of matrix are:

, , , ,

     
, , , , ,

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Osama Mohammed et al., Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

   
, , , , , ,

 
, , , , , ,

   
, , , , ,

   
, , , , , .

The mass matrix is symmetrical matrix:

∫ , ∫ [ ] , ∫[ ]

The non-zero non-dimensional elements of mass matrix are:

, , , , ,
     

, , , , , , ,
   
, , , , , ,
    

, , , , , ,
     

Where  =

3. EFFECT OF THE TYPES OF SUPPORT

The numerical results of the non-dimensional natural frequencies of laminated beams, given in this paper, were carried
out for six end conditions. The transverse and rotational mode shapes for symmetric angle-ply laminated beams with
immovable ends are also displayed in Figure 17 to Fig 20. Moreover, longitudinal mode shapes of some selected non-
symmetric laminated beams are given in Figure 21 and Figure 22.

AS/3501-6 graphite-epoxy material was used for all numerical results because of its wide applications in modern
industries. The mechanical properties of this material are: E1 =145 GN/m2, E2=9.6 GN/m2, G12=4.1 GN/m2,
G13=4.1 GN/m2, G23=3.4 GN/m2, Poisson’s ratio =0.3, Density =1520 kg/m3.

3.1 Effect of the Aspect Ratio:

Figure 5 to Figure 10 subjected to symmetric 45 /  45 /  45 / 45 angle-ply laminated beams. These figures show the
variation of the non-dimensional frequencies with the aspect ratio range from 5 to 40 for the first three modes of
vibration for all beams with immovable ends. It is obvious from the figure that the frequency increases rapidly for the

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range of aspect ratio from 5 to 20, and slows down beyond this range. When the aspect ratio is greater than 20, the
beam is slender and consequently shear deformation and rotary inertia have small noticeable effects on the natural
frequencies.

3.2 Effect of Axial Movements of the Ends:

The values of the non-dimensional frequencies of the transverse modes are not affected by the longitudinal
movements of the ends since these modes are generated by lateral movements only. However, the values of the natural
frequencies of longitudinal modes are found to be the same for all beams with movable ends since they are generated
by longitudinal movements only. Table 1, shows this observation for symmetric 60 /  60 /  60 / 60 laminated
beams with aspect ratio of 10.

 
Table 1Non-dimensional natural frequencies    L4 E1 h 2 of a symmetric [60/-60/-60/60] laminated

beam, (L/h = 10).

beam with immovable ends beam with movable ends

Mode
No. CF HH CC HC HF CF HH CC HC HF
FF FF

1 0.3596 0.9943 2.0601 1.4899 0.3596 0.9943 2.0601 1.4899

1.5370 2.2088 1.5370 2.2088

2 2.0893 3.6853 5.0523 4.3780 2.0893 3.6853 5.0523 4.3780

4.5879 5.5663 4.5879 5.5663

3 5.3017 7.4807 8.8047 8.1620 5.6426* 5.3017 7.4807 8.8047 8.1620

9.8029 8.6142 9.8029

4 5.6426* 11.2852* 11.2852* 11.2852*8.6142 9.2760 11.2852*11.2852*11.2852*

11.2852* 11.2852*11.2852*

5 9.2760 11.8779 12.9830 12.4481 11.2852* 11.8779 12.9830 12.4481

13.1506 14.4600 13.1506 14.4600

6 13.6886 16.5673 17.4219 17.0062 13.6886 16.5673 17.4219 17.0062

*
16.9279 19.2978 17.9208 19.2978

7 16.9279*21.3826 22.0152 21.7057 18.3269 21.3826 22.0152 21.7057

* * *
17.9208 22.5705 22.5705 22.5705

8 18.3269 22.5705* 22.5705* 22.5705* 22.5705* 22.5705*22.5705* 22.5705*

22.7784 24.1851 22.7784 24.1851

Notes: The frequencies marked '*' are the modes with predominance of longitudinal vibration.

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Osama Mohammed et al., Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

3.3 Effect of Fiber Orientations:

Figure 11 to Figure 16 show that the values of non-dimensional natural frequencies of various beams generally
decrease as the angle of orientation of fibers with respect to the longitudinal axis of the beam is increased.

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3.4 Effect of the Type of Supports:

The type of supports affects the natural frequencies as could be noted from the table (1). Generally, it is found
that more constrained beams have high values of natural frequencies. However, the free-free and hinged-free beams are
found to have the highest frequencies amongst all beams although they look less constrained. This behavior is due the
fact that the first mode of the two beams is equal zero and replaced by the second mode as could be seen in Figure
21and Figure22.The fundamental mode shapes of both beams are straight lines and this due to the rigid motion in this
mode where there is no vibrating motion.

3.5 Verification:

In order to check the validity of the present method, comparisons with the results of three references [13], [14] and
[18] were performed. These comparisons were selected to cover four cases, orthotropic beams, symmetrically
laminated beams, non-symmetrically laminated beams, and for different shear theories.

3.5.1 Orthotropic Beams:

Table 2 shows comparison with Abramovich[13]. This comparison shows the first five modes of natural frequencies in
(kHz) of simply supported orthotropic   0  graphite-epoxy beams (L = 15 in., b = h = 1.0 in.).
Table 2Natural frequencies of a simply supported orthotropic (0 o) graphite-epoxy beam (L = 15 in, h =1 in, w
=1 in).
Natural frequencies (kHz)
Mode Present work Ref. [11]
No. Shear factor, Shear factor, Shear factor, Shear factor,
Kf=2/3 Kf=5/6 Ks=2/3 Ks=5/6

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1 0.7421 0.7544 0.743 0.755

2 2.4300 2.5430 2.431 2.543
3 4.3984 4.7059 4.393 4.697
4 6.4064 6.9514 6.383 6.919
5 8.4082 9.2044 8.349 9.127

When (Kf= 2/3), the maximum percentage difference was found to be less than 0.13% for the fundamental frequencies,
and 0.70% for the fifth mode. For the second value of the shear correction factor, (Kf= 5/6), a percentage difference of
less than 0.08% was recorded for the fundamental mode, whereas, a difference of less than 0.80% have been recorded
for the fifth mode. Those differences arise because the term representing the joint action of the shear deformation and
rotary inertia in the equation of motion has been omitted in Ref. [13]because it is thought to be negligible.
3.5.2 Symmetrically Laminated Beams:
Table 3presents a comparison with Abramovich and Livshits [14] of the non-dimensional frequencies of symmetric
[0/90/90/0] cross-ply graphite-epoxy beams for aspect ratio of (L/h = 10). The beams considered are hinged-hinged,
fixed-free, and fixed-fixed with immovable ends. Here, the authors introduced the secondary effect of coupling
between bending and torsion in their analysis, which is small, compared with the other secondary effects.

Table 3Non-dimensional frequencies [    .L2  E1 h 2 ] of symmetric [0/ 90/ 90/ 0] cross-ply beams (L/h =

10).
Hinged-hinged Fixed-free Fixed-fixed
Mode (Immovable) (Immovable) (Immovable)
No. Present Ref. [12] Present Ref. [12] Present Ref. [12]
1 2.3157 2.3194 0.8866 0.8819 3.6855 3.7576
2 6.9813 7.0029 4.1062 4.0259 7.7244 7.8718
3 12.004 12.037 8.9536 9.1085 12.381 12.573
4 17.010 17.015 11.504* 12.193* 17.192 17.373
5 22.015 21.907 13.924 14.080 22.119 22.200
* * *
6 23.007 23.007 18.980 18.980 23.007 23.007*
7 27.094 27.094 24.037 24.037 27.125 27.125
(*)Modes with predominance of longitudinal vibration.
For the hinged-hinged beam, a percentage difference of less than 0.16% recorded for the fundamental frequency, and
less than 0.54% for both fixed-free and fixed-fixed beams. This difference was observed to increase as the mode order
increases (less than 1.4%) for the seventh mode for all beams considered. In addition, Table 3 shows the modes with
predominance of longitudinal vibration.
3.5.3 Non-symmetrically laminated Beams:
Three comparisons with Abramovich and Livshits [14]were given in the Table 4. These tables compare the non-
dimensional frequencies of non-symmetric laminated hinged-hinged and clamped-clamped beams respectively for both
conditions of movable and immovable ends.

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The percentage difference of the frequencies found less than 0.6% for fundamental modes for both movable and
immovable ends of hinged-hinged beams, and less than 1.8% for higher modes. For the mode with predominance of
longitudinal vibration, the observed difference was less than 0.7% for both conditions as could be seen in Table 4.

Table 4Non-dimensional frequencies [ p   .L

2
I 1 D ] of non-symmetrical [90/ 0] laminated beam (L/h = 10)
for a hinged-hinged condition.
Mode Immovable ends Movable ends
No. Present Ref. [12] Present Ref. [12]
1 8.1021 8.1439 6.1110 6.1459
2 21.540 21.661 21.780 21.902
3 43.619 43.778 42.527 42.698
4 63.727 63.787 65.562 65.658
5 88.820 89.150 89.743 86.126
6 89.924* 89.313* 102.22* 102.75*
7 116.27 114.30 114.79 112.80
(*)Modes with predominance of longitudinal vibration.
3.5.4 Different Shear Theories:
Comparison was carried out with the results of Marur and Kant [16]. Table 5 compares the first six modes of the non-

dimensional frequencies [    .L2  E1 h 2 ] of symmetric [ 0 / 90 / 90 / 0 ] cross-ply, graphite-epoxy, clamped-

free beam with aspect ratio of (L/h = 15). The authors applied the higher-order shear deformation theory (HOSDT) in
the analysis, whereas, the present method uses first-order shear deformation theory. The comparison shows a
percentage difference of less than 0.03% for the fundamental mode of vibration. This difference increases with the
mode order to less than 3.6% for the sixth mode.

Table 5Non-dimensional natural frequencies [    .L2  E1 h 2 ] of symmetric [ 0 / 90 / 90 / 0 ] cross-ply

clamped- free beam. (L/h = 15).

Mode No. Present Ref. [16]
1 0.9238 0.924
2 4.8886 4.985
3 11.4556 11.832
*
4 17.2550 -
5 18.8481 19.573
6 26.7793 27.720
(*)Modes with predominance of longitudinal vibration.

4. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, free vibration of generally layered composite beams has been studied. Both secondary effects of
transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia were included in the analysis. A first-order shear deformation theory
was applied in the analysis. A finite element model has been formulated to predict the non-dimensional natural
frequencies and to study the influence of both aspect ratio and angle of orientation of fibers on the natural frequencies.
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Osama Mohammed et al., Free Vibration Analysis of Composite Laminated Beams

Six end conditions were studied which are clamped-free, hinged-hinged, clamped-clamped, hinged-clamped, hinged-
free, and free-free beams with immovable and movable ends.
The main conclusions are:
(1) Similar beams, which are either, symmetrically laminated [ ] , or anti-symmetrically laminated
[ ] have equal natural frequencies, also beams of movable and immovable ends have equal
values of the transverse natural frequencies Repetition of a set of layers in symmetric or anti-symmetric
similar beams does not alter the natural frequencies of the beam. If the lamination order of a laminated beam
is reversed, the natural frequencies will remain the same.
(2) The ends lateral supports of a beam have a noticeable effect on the longitudinal frequencies of vibration. i.e.
All beams with movable ends have equal longitudinal frequencies of vibration, while those of beams with
immovable ends are different. Namely, clamped-free and hinged-free beams with immovable ends have equal
longitudinal frequencies, and the other beams have also equal longitudinal frequencies.
(3) The natural frequencies are independent on the breadth of the beam as it cancels out in both stiffness and
inertia matrices. It should be noted that treating the beam as a plane stress problem demands that the width
must be small compared with the depth.
(4) The natural frequencies of a laminated beam generally increase with the aspect ratio and they decrease as the
fiber orientation angle increases.
(5) It was found that the more the beam is constrained, the higher are the values of natural frequencies. But, the
free-free and hinged-free beams were found to have the highest frequencies amongst all beams in spite they
appear to have the least constrains.

REFERENCES

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3. Madabhusi-Raman, P. and J.F. Davalos, Static shear correction factor for laminated rectangular beams.
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4. Chen, A.T. and T. Yang, Static and dynamic formulation of a symmetrically laminated beam finite element for a
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5. Chandrashekhara, K., K. Krishnamurthy, and S. Roy, Free vibration of composite beams including rotary inertia
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