Vibration and Damping Analysis of

Fibre Reinforced Composite

Material Plates
N. ALAM AND N. T. ASNANI
Mech. Engg. Dept.
I.I.T. Delhi-110016
India
(Received April 27, 1984)
(Revised March 19, 1985)

ABSTRACT

Governing equations of motion for a laminated plate consisting of an arbitrary

number of fibre reinforced composite material layers have been derived using the
variational principles. Each layer has been considered to be of a specially orthotropic
material with its directional elastic properties depending on the fibre orientation.
Extension, bending, inplane shear and transverse shear deformations in each layer are
considered. The longitudinal translatory and the rotary inertias along with the
transverse inertia are taken into account. A solution for simply supported rectangular
plate is obtained in series summation form and the damping analysis is carried out by
an application of the correspondence principle of linear viscoelasticity. The computer
program for the determination of the resonating frequencies and the associated system
loss factors for the various families of modes of vibration of a plate consisting of an
arbitrary number of layers has been developed. Using the same, investigation for the
optimum fibre orientation for maximizing the resonant frequencies and the system loss
factors for the flexural and the extensional modes of vibration of a four layered crisscross laminated plate, has been carried out. The variation of the resonant frequencies
and the system loss factors with aspect ratio, for the first flexural modes of 2,4 and 6
layered cross-ply laminated plates

are

also

reported.

INTRODUCTION
HE STUDIES IN THE AREA OF THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOUR OF FIBRE-REIN-

Tforced

composites have been carried out by many investigators, and these

have been reviewed extensively in review papers by Gibson and Plunket [1],
Gibson and Wilson [2], Bert [3-7] and very recently by Plunkett [8]. The
activity and the effort in this field are on the increase for the laminated construction, the form in which most of the fibre-reinforced composite material
are employed. Presently the static and the dynamic analysis of the fibrereinforced composite material plates is generally carried out by replacing a
2

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laminated plate by

a homogeneous orthotropic material plate. This

simplification may not lead to the true representation of the deformation in
the layers. In the present work, the elastic properties of each layer are taken
separately. Each layer is considered to be of a specially orthotropic material
and this is valid for a cross-ply and criss-cross-ply (alternate +0, -0 fibre
orientation) laminated arrangements. The large difference in the elastic properties of the fibre filaments and the matrix materials leads to high ratio of the
inplane Youngs modulus to the transverse shear modulus for most of the
composite materials and due to this, the results obtained by using classical
theory of thin plates neglecting transverse shear deformations become
erroneous. The present analysis considers extension, bending, inplane shear
and transverse shear deformations in each layer of the laminated plate.

EQUATIONS

OF MOTION

Assuming no slip at the interfaces of the layers, the displacements at a

point z from the mid plane of ith layer along x and y directions are given as

+ , are the displacements of two surfaces of the ith

directions
layer along and y
respectively, and ti is the thickness of the ith
layer. The strains at the point are given as

where u;, tli,

ui

+ ,

and ~?;

here

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4
w

Considering material of a layer

are given by [9]

to be

is the transverse displacement.

specially orthotropic

stress-strain rela-

tions

where

and

in

8,,, p
Figure 1.

cos

sin 9;, 9, is

angular orientation of fibres in ith layer,

The strain energy of the plate is given by

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as

shown

Figure

t Orientation of fibres in

layer.

here N is the number of layers and a and b are respectively the lengths of the
plate along x and y directions. Considering the transverse, the longitudinal
translatory and the rotary inertias, the kinetic energy of the plate is given by

here
Work done

is time

by the external excitation f(x,y)sinwt is given by

Using the Equations (2) and (3), U and T are evaluated. Taking the variations
and applying the Hamiltons principle, the governing differential equations
of motion and the boundary conditions are obtained [ 10] .

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SOLUTION FOR SIMPLY SUPPORTED PLATE

A series solution

satisfying boundary conditions is taken

and the excitation may be expanded

as

as

Substituting the Equations (7) in the governing differential equations of

motion, a set of (2N + 3) simultaneous algebraic equation in Umn.i and V N + 1) and Wmn are obtained. Replacing the real moduli by the
(i 1,2
complex moduli according to the principle of correspondence of linear
viscoelasticity for harmonic motion, the coefficients of the algebraic equations become complex. Eliminating Umn.1 and Vmn,, (i
N + 1) in the
1,2
terms of Wmn the resulting equation in W_,, may be written as
=

...

...

here R,, R2
and I,, I,
are respectively real and imaginary parts of
the terms, and the complex frequency parameters ~1,, 2
2N +3 define the
resonant frequency parameters and the associated system loss factors of
(2N + 3) modes of the family of modes corresponding to one set of values of
m and n. These complex frequency parameters are also the complex eigenvalues of the matrix
...

...

...

where

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and both the matrices [A] and [B] are square matrices of order (2N + 3). The
elements of these matrices are found from the algebraic equations resulting
from the substitution of the solutions in the governing differential equations
as mentioned before. These elements are the functions of the geometric and
the material properties of the plate. The real part A~ of the complex eigenvalue
Il is the resonant frequency parameter, and the ratio of the imaginary part to
the real part is the associated system loss factor t7, [14]. It can be shown that??,,
is the ratio of the imaginary to the real part of the generalised complex stiffness and also the ratio of energy dissipated per cycle to the maximum strain
energy during the cycle [15]. Expression of the resonant frequency parameter
is

where Ql, t1 and Ell are respectively the mass density, the thickness and the
elastic modulus along direction 1, of the first layer, and eu is the resonant frequency in radians per second.
Above procedure has been programmed to compute the resonant frequency parameters and the associated system loss factors for all the modes of
the families of modes of vibrations of a general multilaminated fibre-reinforced composite material plate. For a particular set of values of m and n, a
family of vibrating modes consists of (2N + 3) modes. Although these modes
are coupled, dominating displacements such as the flexural, the extensional
and the shear occur in the different modes and the modes are named ac-

cordingly.
COMPARISON WITH REPORTED RESULTS
Results of the first resonant frequency for flexural vibrations of a four
layered (0 , 90 , 90 , 0 ) boron epoxy composite material simply supported
square plate have been determined with the present analysis, and are compared with the earlier reported results [9,11], and are shown in Figure 2.
The ordinates FR are the ratios of the resonant frequencies obtained by the
present method and the Wu and Vinson method [9,11], to the frequency of
the plate using the classical linear theory neglecting the transverse shear deformation and the longitudinal and the rotary inertias of the plate. The abscissa
is the geometric ratio of the length a to the thickness of the plate T. It may
be seen that FR with the present analysis is smaller than with the Wu and
Vinson analysis, for any particular value of (o~/T~. It is further observed that
the difference in FR values with two analyses is more for thicker plates and is
nearly zero for very thin plates. This difference is due to the fact that the present analysis considers transverse shear deformation in each of the four layers
separately, where as in the Wu and Vinson analysis the transverse shear

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Figure 2. Variation of frequency ration FR with size perameter al T for a four layered boron-epoxy
simply supported plate.

square

deformation of a single homogeneous orthotropic plate obtained by replacing

the four layers, has been considered. The other reason for the difference may
be due to inclusion of the longitudinal and rotary inertia effects in the present
analysis, though this would be small as compared to the transverse shear
deformation effect.
OPTIMUM FIBRE ORIENTATIONS FOR CRISS-CROSS
LAMINATED PLATES
A four ply composite plate with the fibres oriented at an angle 0 from x axis
has been considered. For maintaining the symmetry of orthotropy, each layer
is considered to consist of equal number of fibres oriented at angles + 9 and

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9
0 to form the criss-cross lamination over the thickness of each layer. Four
composite materials namely boron fibre reinforced plastic
(BFRP), carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), glass fibre reinforced plastic
(GFRP) and aramid fibre reinforced plastic (AFRP) have been taken.
The properties of these materials, taken from Reference [12] are given in
Table 1. For the damping analysis of the plates with harmonic loading, the
moduli are to be considered as complex in the form El (I + jt7) where ER is
the storage modulus and t7 is the material loss factor. The materials loss factor
for fibre materials in general is very small in comparison to that of the matrix
materials, and in the present analysis is considered to be zero. The material
loss factor for matrix materials is different for different materials and its
value varies with frequency, temperature and strain. In the present analysis it
has been arbitrarily assumed to be 0.5 and its variation with frequency,
temperature and strain is ignored. Assuming the elastic property expressions
given by Halpin and Tsai [13] to be valid for complex moduli, the material
loss factor associated with E&dquo; comes to be very small and has been taken as
zero, while the loss factors associated with E22, G,2, 013 and G23 are taken as
that of matrix material. These assumptions are made for carrying out the
quantitative comparison in respect of the damping effectiveness of the plates
of the four composite materials for various fibre orientations. In the present
investigation, results of vibrations of plate for m = n 1 for the flexural and
the extensional modes are reported. Variations of resonant frequency
parameter A for the flexural mode I, the extensional modes II and III and the
associated system loss factor t7, with the fibre orientation angle 0 in steps of
15 is tabulated in the Tables (2-5) for four types of the fibre reinforced composite material plate. The ratio of the length to the thickness of the plate for
the reported results is alT 150.
From the tables it is observed that the maximum value of frequency
parameter ~l, for the flexural vibrations mode I, for all the four varieties of
composite materials, occur at 0 0for aspect ratio 0.25, at 9 = 45 for
aspect ratio 1.0 and at 0 90 for aspect ratio 4.0. This is in confirmation
-

varieties of

Table 1. Properties of composite materials.

Material loss factor associated with E,, is negligible, material loss factor associated with all the other
moduli
0.5.
=

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10
Table 2.

r and YJs

for CFRP plate-m

= n

1, alT = 150.

with findings of Bert [4]. The maximum value of the system loss factor 17., for
the flexural mode (I) does not occur at the same fibre orientation, for which
the maximum frequency occurs. The maximum P7, occurs at 0 90for
aspect ratio 0.25, at 0 0and 90for aspect ratio 1.0, and at 0 0for
aspect ratio 4.0. These findings are true for all the four types of composite
=

materials.
For the extensional mode (II), r is maximum at 9 between 30 -45for
aspect ratio 0.25, at 0 between 45 -60for aspect ratio 4.0, and maximum 17,
occurs at 0
0 and 90 for both these aspect ratios. For aspect ratio 1.0,
variation of r and Y7., with 0 from 45 to 90 is similar as from 0to 45 , and
=

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11
Table 3.

4 and YJs

for AFRP plate-m

1, alT = 150.

between 15 -30and between 60 -75 , and the max0 , 45 and 90 . For the extensional mode (III), r and
imum t7,
are
at
9=0
and at 0 90 respectively for aspect ratio 0.25
maximum
Yls
and at 0 90and 9=0respectively for aspect ratio 4.0. For aspect ratio
1.0, maximum ~l, and maximum ?7,, both occur at 0 45 and the variation is
symmetric about 9 45 . These conclusions are true for all the four types of
composite materials.
n
The maximum value of the first resonant frequency (m
1) for flexural vibrations has been termed as optimal frequency. A comparative study
of the optimal frequency for the plates of different composite materials at
the maximum A,

occurs

occurs at

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12
Table 4.

r and YJs

for

GFRP plates-m

= n

1, alT = 150.

three values of aspect ratio obtained by the present analysis are given in Table
6 along with the results reported by Bert [4]. These results are expressed as
ratio of frequency of a composite material plate to that of a square isotropic
material plate, typical of most metallic alloys such as steel or aluminum with
(E/eg) &dquo;2 = 1625 (metre) &dquo;2 and 0.3 as Poissons ratio. The results with the
present analysis are nearly the same as that with the Berts analysis, though in
the later analysis the shear deformation of the single homogeneous layer
replacing four composite layers, has been considered, and also the rotary and
the longitudinal inertias are ignored. This is due to the fact that the plate
length to thickness ratio (alT) is very large, and for this the results should be
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13
Table 5.

~1, and YJs for BFRP plate - m

1, a/ T

150.

same as already found in previous section. The results for thicker plates i.e.
with small values of (alT) by the present analysis, will differ from the results
by Berts analysis, and are expected to be more accurate. It may further be
seen that the optimal frequency increases with the aspect ratio in all the four
types and is the highest for CFRP followed by BFRP, AFRP and GFRP. The
maximum obtainable values of the system loss factor P7 max for four types of
composites are shown in the Table 7. Yls. max for a square plate is the lowest and
for aspect ratio 0.25 and 4.0, Yls. values are equal. Further it may be observed that GFRP plate gives highest value of 17,, max for all values of aspect
ratio, followed by BFRP, AFRP and CFRP.

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14

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15
Table 7. Maximum obtainable system loss factor for
1st flexural mode of composite plates.

CROSS-PLY LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATE

A cross-ply arrangement of the laminated plate is one in which the alternate
layers have the fibres oriented at 0and 90with respect to one of the
geometric axes. The resonant frequency and the associated system loss factor
for flexural vibrations of 2, 4 and 6 layered cross-ply, simply supported rectangular plates are shown in the Figures 3 and 4, for various values of the

Figure 3. Variation of frequency

simply supported plate.

ration (w/w.) with aspect ratio (alb) for

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cross-ply laminated

16

Figure 4. Variation
supported plate.

of system loss factor r, with aspect ratio (alb) for cross-ply laminated simply

aspect ratio and for three types of composite materials. The elastic properties
of these materials are taken from the Table 1. The ordinate (wlwo) in the

Figure 3 is the ratio of the flexural resonant frequency of 2, 4 and 6 layered

cross-ply plate with that of the homogeneous orthotropic plate of the same
thickness. The orthotropic plate solution includes the shear deformation and
the rotary and the longitudinal inertias. It may be seen that for a square plate,
as the number of layers in the arrangement increases, the frequency approaches to that of the orthotropic solution for all the three types of composite materials plates. For the aspect ratio greater than 1, the frequency ratio
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17

(w/wo) increases with increasing values of (E&dquo;lE22) for 2,4 and 6 layered
plates. The difference in the frequency ratio from 2 to 4 layer arrangement,
and also from 4 to 6 layer arrangement is larger for composites with higher
values of (E11IEn). The Figure 4 shows the variation of the associated system
loss factor Yls for flexural vibrations of 2, 4 and 6 layered cross-ply laminated
plates of the three composite materials. A general trend observed from these
curves is that for all the arrangements rl, is maximum for a square plate for all
the materials. For a particular composite materials is maximum for a 2
layered plate and decreases with an increase in the number of layers. t7,, inwith a decrease in values of (E&dquo;lEz2) for all the aspect ratios and in
this respect, the trend is opposite to that of the frequency variation.
creases

CONCLUSIONS

The vibration and damping analysis of fibre-reinforced composite material

plates has been developed by considering properties of each layer separately.
The results are verified with the reported results. The investigation for the op-

timum fibre orientations to achieve the maximum resonant frequencies and

the maximum associated system loss factor is carried out for criss-cross
laminated plate. It has been found that the different fibre orientations lead to
the maximum frequency and the maximum damping. For a cross-ply
laminated plate, it has been found that the maximum flexural frequency ratio
is obtained for large aspect ratio plates and with large values of (E&dquo;lE22)
while the maximum loss factor is obtained with square plate and with smaller
values of

(E&dquo; lEz2).
REFERENCES

Plunkett, R., "Dynamic Stiffness and Damping of Fiber-Reinforced

Composite Materials," The Shock and Vibration Digest, Vol. 9, No. 2 (February 1977).
Gibson, R. F. and Wilson, D. G., "Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Reinforced
Composite Materials," The Shock and Vibration Digest, Vol. 11, No. 10 (October 1979).
Bert, C. W., "Damping of Composite and Sandwich Panels—Part I," The Shock and Vibration Digest, Vol. 8, No. 10 (October 1976).
Bert, C. W., "Damping of Composite and Sandwich Panels Part II," The Shock and Vibration Digest, Vol. 8, No. 11 (November 1976).
Bert, C. W., "Recent Research in Composite and Sandwich Plate Dynamics," The Shock
and Vibration Digest, Vol. 11, No. 10 (October 1979).
Bert, C. W., "Composite Materials: A Survey of the Damping Capacity of Fiber-Reinforced
Composites," Damping Applications for Vibration Control, ed. by P. J. Torvik, ASME,
AMD Vol. 38 (November 1980).
Bert, C. W., "Vibrations of Composite Structures," Recent Advances in Structural
Dynamics, Proceedings, International Conference Sothampton, U.K. (July 7-11, 1980).
Plunkett, R., "Damping Mechanisms in Fiber-Reinforced Laminates," Mechanics of Composite Materials, Recent Advances, Proceedings of the IU TAM Symposium on Mechanics
of Composite Materials (April 16-19, 1982).
Vinson, J. R. and Chou, Tsu-wei., "Composite Materials and their Use in Structures," Applied Science Publishers Ltd., London (1975).

1. Gibson, R. F. and

2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

7.
8.

9.

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18
10. Alam, N., "Vibration and Damping Analysis of Multilayered Plates and Shells," Ph.D.
thesis, Mechanical Engineering Department, I. I. T. Delhi (1980).
11. Wu, C. I. and Vinson, J., "Influences of Large Amplitudes, Transverse Shear Deformation,
and Rotary Inertia on Lateral Vibrations of Transversely Isotropic Plates," Journal of Applied Mechanics, Trans ASME, Vol. 36, pp. 254-260 (1969).

"Optimal Design of Composite Material Plate to Maximize its Fundamental

Frequency," Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 229-237 (1977).
13. Ashton, J. E., Halpin, J. C. and Petit, P. H., Primer on Composite Materials, Technomic
Publication (1969).
14. Rao, Y. V. K. S. and Nakra, B. C., "Vibrations of Unsymmetrical Sandwich Beams and
Plates with Viscoelastic Cores," Journal of Sound and Vibration, 34(3), pp. 309-326 (1974).
15. Ungar, E. E. and Kerwin, E. M. Jr., "Loss Factors of Viscoelastic Systems in Terms of
Energy Concepts," The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 34, No. 7, pp.
954-957 (July 1962).
12. Bert, C. W.,

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