Flexural free vibration of sandwich flat panels with laminated anisotropic face sheets

A study of the effects of anisotropy of face sheets, of core layer, and as of other mechanical/geometrical parameters of flat sandwich panels on their eigenfrequency characteristics is presented. The study is carried out in the context of an advanced model of sandwich structures featuring monoclinic anisotropy-type laminated face sheets and an orthotropic light core. A detailed analysis of the influence of a number of important parameters associated with panel geometry, fiber orientation and stacking sequence in the face sheets, and material properties of the core is carried out, and pertinent conclusions are outlined. In spite of the intricacy of the investigated problem, the adopted solution methodology of the problem enables one to obtain a closed-form solution of eigenfrequency predictions. Numerical simulations highlighting the implications of a number of parameters on eigenfrequencies, as well as validations against the few ones available in the specialized literature, are presented. Pertinent conclusions regarding their dynamic optimization via the use of directional properties of fiber-composite materials in the face sheets and of orthotropicity in the core layer material are supplied.