Free vibration of thin-walled composite box beams

Free vibration of a thin-walled laminated composite beam is studied. A general analytical model applicable to the dynamic behavior of a thin-walled composite box section is developed. This model is based on the classical lamination theory, and accounts for the coupling of flexural and torsional modes for arbitrary laminate stacking sequence configuration, i.e. unsymmetric as well as symmetric, and various boundary conditions. A displacement-based one-dimensional finite element model is developed to predict natural frequencies and corresponding vibration modes for a thin-walled composite beam. Equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton’s principle. Numerical results are obtained for thin-walled composites addressing the effects of fiber angle, modulus ratio, and boundary conditions on the vibration frequencies and mode shapes of the composites.