Vibration Characteristics and Optimization of Laminated Composite Plates

Abstract

This paper deals with the natural vibration characteristics of laminated composite plates. The vibration frequencies of laminated plates are analyzed based upon the classical lamination theory. In the first part of this paper, it is shown that the vibration frequencies are lower in the laminated plates than the ones of the orthotropic plates due to the coupling effects. It is also shown that the vibration modes of the off-axis plates are quite different from the ones of the orthotropic plates. In the second part, the optimal laminate configuration to maximize the fundamental frequency is investigated for the orthotropic laminated plates. It is shown that an angle-ply laminate gives the optimal laminate configuration for the simply-supported plates, while a cross-ply laminate gives it for the clamped plates.