Composites: Part B 39 (2008) 10691076

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Composites: Part B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesb

Damping analysis of orthotropic composite materials and laminates

Abderrahim El Mahi a, Mustapha Assarar a, Youssef Sefrani b, Jean-Marie Berthelot c,*
a b c

University of Maine, Avenue O. Messiaen, 72085 Le Mans cedex 9, France Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alepo, Syria ISMANS, Institute for Advanced Materials and Mechanics, 44 Avenue Bartholdi, 72000 Le Mans, France

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The paper presents an analysis of the damping of unidirectional bre composites, orthotropic composites and laminates. Damping parameters are investigated using beam test specimens and an impulse technique. Damping modelling is developed using a nite element analysis which evaluated the different energies dissipated in the material directions of the layers. The results obtained show that this analysis describes fairly well the experimental results. The nite element analysis can be applied to complex shape structures. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 15 August 2007 Received in revised form 20 May 2008 Accepted 24 May 2008 Available online 19 June 2008 Keywords: A. Laminates C. Damping C. Finite element analysis C. Vibration testing

1. Introduction At the constituent level, the energy dissipation in bre-reinforced composites is induced by different processes such as the viscoelastic behaviour of matrix, the damping at the brematrix interface, the damping due to damage, etc. At the laminate level, damping is depending on the constituent layer properties as well as layer orientations, interlaminar effects, stacking sequence, etc. The initial works on the damping analysis of bre composite materials were reviewed extensively in review papers by Gibson and Plunkett [1] and Gibson and Wilson [2]. A damping process has been developed initially by Adams and Bacon [3] in which the energy dissipation can be described as separable energy dissipations associated to the individual stress components. This analysis was rened in later paper of Ni and Adams [4]. The damping of orthotropic beams is considered as function of material orientation and the papers also consider cross-ply laminates and angle-ply laminates, as well as more general types of symmetric laminates. The damping concept of Adams and Bacon was also applied by Adams and Maheri [5] to the investigation of angle-ply laminates made of unidirectional glass bre or carbon layers. The nite element analysis has been used by Lin et al. [6] and Maheri and Adams [7] to evaluate the damping properties of freefree bre reinforced plates. These analyses were extended to a total of ve damping parameters, including the two transverse shear damping parameters. More recently the analysis of Adams and Bacon was applied by Yim [8] and Yim and Jang [9] to different types of laminates, then

extended by Yim and Gillespie [10] including the transverse shear effect in the case of 0 and 90 unidirectional laminates. For thin laminate structures the transverse shear effects can be neglected and the structure behaviour can be analysed using the classical laminate theory. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of rectangular plates are well described using the Ritz method introduced by Young [11] in the case of homogeneous plates. The Ritz method was applied by Berthelot and Sefrani [12] to describe the damping properties of unidirectional plates. The analysis was extended to the damping analysis of laminates [13]. The results obtained show that the analysis by the Ritz method evaluates fairly well the damping properties of unidirectional materials and laminates. The analysis of damping properties of unidirectional and orthotropic composite materials is developed in the present paper by using a nite element analysis. The results derived from this analysis are rst applied to the evaluation of damping parameters of materials from the exural vibrations of beam specimens and compared to the experimental results. Next, damping of different laminates is considered. 2. Estimation of laminate damping 2.1. Introduction The classical laminate theory [14] considers a rst-order evaluation of the displacement eld associated to normal stress rzz, and transverse shear stresses rxz and ryz, which are zero. It results that the strain energy Ud stored in the laminate structure can be expressed as a function of the in-plane strain energies related to the material directions as

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 243 2140 00; fax: +33 243 2140 39. E-mail address: jmberthelot@ismans.fr (J.-M. Berthelot). 1359-8368/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2008.05.003

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Ud U1 U2 U6
with

U 21 U 12
and

10

U1

1 2 ZZZ 1 U2 2 ZZZ 1 U6 2

ZZZ

r1 e1 dx dy dz; r2 e2 dx dy dz; r6 e6 dx dy dz;

2

U 22

1 2

ZZZ

Q 22 e2 sin h e2 cos4 h c2 sin h cos2 h xx yy xy

2 3

2exx eyy sin h cos2 h 2exx cxy sin h cos h 2eyy cxy sin h cos3 h dx dy dz: 11

where the integrations are extended over the volume of the laminate structure. 2.2. Strain energy as a function of the strain eld Considering the case of a laminate constituted of a single layer of unidirectional or orthotropic material, the stresses r1, r2 and r6 can be evaluated as functions of strains e1,e2 and e6, considering the stressstrain relations in the material directions (L, T, T0 ) = (1, 2, 3)

Lastly, the strain energy U6 stored in in-plane shear can be written as

U 6 U 66

1 2

ZZZ

Q 66 4e2 e2 2exx eyy sin h cos2 h xx yy

2 2

c2 cos2 h sin h2 4eyy cxy exx cxy cos2 h sin h xy sin h cos h dx dy dz:
2.3. Laminate damping Next, the energy dissipated by damping in the material is written in the form

12

r1 Q 11 e1 Q 12 e2 ; r2 Q 12 e1 Q 22 e2 ; r6 Q 66 e6 ;

DU w11 U 11 2w12 U 12 w22 U 22 w66 U 66 ;

13

where the components Qij are the reduced stiffness constants of the composite material referred to its material directions. It results that the strain energy U1, stored in tensioncompression in the longitudinal direction of the material, can be written as

U 1 U 11 U 12
with

introducing the damping coefcients w11, w12, w22 and w66 associated to the strain energies, respectively. In practice, the strain energy U12 is very low and can be neglected with regard to the other energies. Then, the damping wx in the x geometric direction is evaluated by the relation

U 11 U 12

ZZZ 1 Q 11 e2 dx dy dz; 1 2 ZZZ 1 Q 12 e1 e2 dx dy dz: 2

wx 5

DU : U

14

2.4. Evaluation of the damping of a rectangular plate using the Ritz method The analysis of the transverse vibrations of a rectangular plate can be implemented [14] using the Ritz method which consists in searching the transverse displacement in the form of a double series of the in-plane coordinates x and y as

Expression (4) separates the energy U11 stored in the longitudinal direction and the coupling energy U12 induced by the Poissons effect. The strains e1, e2 and e6 are related to the strains exx, eyy and cxy expressed in the geometric directions according to the strain transformation relation

6 7 6 7 76 2 4 e2 5 4 sin h cos2 h sin h cos h 54 eyy 5: 2 cxy e6 2 sin h cos h 2 sin h cos h cos2 h sin h 6
Introducing the strain transformations in relations (5), the energies are expressed as

e1

cos2 h

sin h

sin h cos h

32

exx

w0 x; y

M N XX m1 n1

Amn X m xY n y:

15

U 11

1 2

Z ZZ

Q 11 e2 cos4 h e2 sin h c2 sin h cos2 h xx yy xy

2

2exx eyy sin h cos2 h 2exx cxy sin h cos3 h

3

2eyy cxy sin h cos hdxdydz; Z ZZ 1 2 2 2 U 12 Q 12 e2 sin h cos2 h e2 sin h cos2 h c2 sin h cos2 h xx yy xy 2 exx eyy sin h cos h exx cxy sin h cos h sin h cos h eyy cxy cos2 h sin h sin h cos hdxdydz:
In the same way, the energy U2 stored in tensioncompression in the transverse direction is obtained as
2 4 4 2 2

The functions Xm(x) and Yn(y) have to form functional bases and are chosen to satisfy the essential boundary conditions. The coefcients Amn are determined by considering the stationarity conditions of the total potential energy. The strain energies U11, U12, U22 and U66 can then be expressed by introducing the transverse displacement (15) in the previous relations (7), (8), (11) and (12), and next integrating over the plate volume. The process and the results obtained are developed in [12,13]. Moreover, the results can be easily extended [13] to the damping evaluation of a laminated plate constituted of different orthotropic layers. 2.5. Strain energy as a function of the stress eld The strain energies (2) stored in a laminate can also be expressed as functions of the stress eld considering the strainstress relations in the material directions

e1 S11 r1 S12 r2 ; e2 S12 r1 S22 r2 ; e6 S66 r6 ; 16

U 2 U 21 U 22
with

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where the components Sij are the compliance constants of the composite material related to the engineering moduli EL, ET, GLT and mLT by the following expressions:

S11

1 ; EL

S22

1 ; ET

S12

mLT
EL

S66

1 : GLT

17

It results that expression (2) of the strain energy U1, stored in tensioncompression in the longitudinal direction can be written in the form (4) with

The classical laminate theory is based on a rst-order theory of the in-plane displacement. Furthermore, the normal stress rzz and the transverse shear stresses rxz and ryz are neglected. In the case of a single layer of thickness h, nite element analysis based on the classical laminate theory gives the values of the in-plane stresses rxx, ryy and rxy, on the lower face (l) and upper face (u) of each element e of the structure (Fig. 1). In-plane stresses through thickness are linear functions of z coordinate of the forms

U 11 U 12

ZZZ 1 S11 r2 dx dy dz; 1 2 ZZZ 1 S12 r1 r2 dx dy dz: 2

rp ap x; yz bp x; y; p xx; yy; xy
with

24

18 ap bp

rpu rpl
h

; 25

Stresses r1, r2 and r6, related to the material directions, can be expressed as functions of the in-plane stresses rxx, ryy and rxy, related to the geometric directions (x, y, z), according to the stress transformation relation

1 rpu rpl : 2

It results from relations (20)(23) that the in-plane energies stored in the element e can be expressed as

2 rxx r1 cos2 h sin h 2 sin h cos h 6 7 6 7 76 2 4 r2 5 4 sin h cos2 h 2 sin h cos h 54 ryy 5; 2 2 rxy r6 sin h cos h sin h cos h cos h sin h

32

U e S11 U e cos4 h U e sin h 11 xxxx yyyy 22U e U e sin h cos2 h xyxy xxyy 19 4U e xxxy sin h cos h
4 3 2

26
3

4U e yyxy

sin h cos h;
2

U e S12 U e U e 4U e sin h cos2 h 12 xxxx yyyy xyxy U e sin h cos4 h xxyy 2U e xxxy
4 2 U e sin yyxy

where h is the orientation of material in layer. Whence, the energies stored in an element e are written as

27
2

Ue 11

1 2

ZZZ
e

h cos h sin h cos h;

S11 r2 cos4 h r2 sin h xx yy

2

Ue 22 20
3

S22 U e xxxx

sin h
3

Ue yyyy

cos4 h
2

22r2 rxx ryy sin h cos2 h xy 4rxx rxy sin h cos h 4ryy rxy sin h cos h dx dy dz; ZZZ 1 2 S12 r2 r2 4r2 sin h cos2 h xx yy xy 2 e rxx ryy sin h cos4 h 2rxx rxy ryy rxy sin h cos2 h sin h cos h dx dy dz;
2 4 3

22U e U e sin h cos2 h xyxy xxyy 4U e sin h cos h 4U e sin h cos3 h; xxxy yyxy U e S66 U e U e 2U e sin h cos2 h 66 xxxx yyyy xxyy
2

28

Ue 12

21

U e cos2 h sin h2 xyxy 2U e xxxy

2 U e sin yyxy

29
2

h cos h sin h cos h;

where the integrations are extended over the volume of the element e. In the same way, the strain energy U2, stored in tensioncompression in the transverse direction can be written in the form (9), with

introducing the energy terms

Ue pp

Se e I ; 2 pp

p xx; yy; xy;

30

Ue 22

1 2

ZZZ
e 2

where Se is the area of the nite element e and the integrals Ie are pp deduced from expressions (24) for the in-plane stresses as

S22 r2 sin h r2 cos4 h 22r2 rxx ryy xx yy xy

2 3

Ie ap aq pq 22

h bp bq h; 12

p; q xx; yy; xy:

31

sin h cos h 4rxx rxy sin h cos h 4ryy rxy sin h cos3 h dx dy dz:
Lastly, the in-plane shear strain energy is written as

It results that the total in-plane strain energies stored in the nite element assemblage is obtained by summation on the elements as

Ue 6

Ue 66 ZZZ 1 2 S66 r2 r2 2rxx ryy sin h cos2 h xx yy 2 e r2 cos2 h sin h2 2ryy rxy rxx rxy cos2 h xy sin h sin h cos h dx dy dz:
2 2

U 11 U 22

X
elements

Ue ; 11 Ue ; 22

U 12 U 66

X
elements

Ue ; 12 Ue : 66 32

elements

elements

23

2.6. Damping evaluation using nite element analysis The Ritz method (Section 2.4) is restricted to the analysis of rectangular plates. In the case of complex shape structures, it is necessary to use a nite element analysis to evaluate the damping and dynamic behaviour of the structure. The energy approach for damping evaluation which has been considered in Section 2.2 can be extended by using nite element analysis and the formulation which is developed hereafter.

xxu , yyu , xyu

element e

xx l , yy l , xy l
Fig. 1. Laminate element.

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Next, the energy dissipated by damping in the material is written in the form (13) and the damping wx in the x geometric direction is derived from expression (14). The present results obtained in the case of a single layer can be easily extended to the damping evaluation of a laminated plate constituted of different orthotropic layers. 3. Experimental Investigation of the damping of glass bre composite materials 3.1. Materials The materials considered in the analysis are constituted of Eglass bres in an epoxy matrix and were fabricated with different layers: unidirectional layers, unidirectional woven fabric layers, taffeta layers and serge weave layers. The unidirectional layers are unidirectional fabrics of weight 300 g m2 with glass bres aligned in a single direction. In the unidirectional woven fabric, glass bres are aligned in the warp direction and are held together by ne weft glass threads, so that the fabric is mostly unidirectional. The weight of fabrics was 290 g m2. The weights of taffeta fabrics and serge fabrics were 202 g m2 and 300 g m2, respectively. Laminate materials were prepared by hand lay-up process from epoxy resin with hardener and glass fabrics. Plates of different dimensions were cured at room temperature with pressure using vacuum moulding process, and then post-cured in an oven. The plates were fabricated with 8 or 12 layers according to the weight of reinforcement in such a way to obtain the same plate thickness (nominal value of 2.4 mm) with the same reinforcement volume fraction (nominal value of 0.40). The engineering constants of laminates referred to the material directions (L, T, T0 ) or (1, 2, 3) were measured in static tests as mean values of 10 tests for each constant. The values obtained are reported in Table 1. 3.2. Determination of the constitutive damping parameters The damping characteristics of the unidirectional layers or laminates were obtained by subjecting beams to exural vibrations. The equipment used is shown in Fig. 2. The test specimen is supported horizontally as a cantilever beam in a clamping block. An impulse hammer is used to induce the excitation of the exural vibrations of the beam and the beam response is detected by using a laser vibrometer. Next, the excitation and the response signals are digitalized and processed by a dynamic analyzer of signals. This analyzer associated with a PC computer performs the acquisition of signals, controls the acquisition conditions and next performs the analysis of the signals acquired (Fourier transform, frequency response, mode shapes, etc.). The damping characteristics of the beams are deduced from the Fourier transform of the beam response to an impulse input by tting this experimental response with the analytical response of the beam which was derived in [12]. This tting is obtained by a least square method which allows us to obtain the values of the natural frequencies fi and the modal loss factors gi, related to the specic damping coefcient by the relation wi = 2pgi. The effect of aerodynamic damping in the case of exural beam vibrations was considered by Baker et al. [15], Adams and Bacon
Table 1 Engineering constants of composite materials Laminate Unidirectional layer Unidirectional woven layer Taffeta layer Serge layer EL (GPa) 29.9 28 14 16 ET (GPa) 7.50 11.0 13.5 15.4

[16] and Crane and Gillespie [17]. Air damping is due to both air viscosity and inertia effects, and increases with the increase in the amplitude of vibrations. Adams and Bacon found that the effect of air damping was signicant for specimens of low damping as usual materials when vibration amplitude is increased. The results obtained by Crane and Gillespie shown that no signicant variation of loss factor was obtained for low amplitude in the case of composite materials, air damping staying within the experimental accuracy of the testing procedure. Moreover in the present experimental investigation, it was veried that the same damping was obtained with different widths of the beams as well as different amplitude of the vibrations. The beams were mounted in a heavy and rigid xture with serrated jaws providing clamping conditions around the root of the beams to simulate a xed end. The validation of the clamping process was established by the repetitive results obtained when beams were unset and set successively. So it can be considered that extraneous sources of energy dissipation are negligible and that the loss factor measured in the experimental investigation is from material damping. 4. Results and discussion 4.1. Damping of the glass bre composite materials The experimental evaluation of damping was performed on beams of different lengths: 160, 180 and 200 mm so as to have a variation of the values of the peak frequencies. Beams had a nominal width of 20 mm and a nominal thickness of 2.4 mm. Figs. 36 show the experimental results obtained for damping in the case of unidirectional glass bre composites (Fig. 3), unidirectional glass cloth composites (Fig. 4), glass taffeta composites (Fig. 5) and glass serge composites (Fig. 6). The results are reported for the rst three bending modes and for the different lengths of the beams as functions of the frequency, considering different orientations of glass bres. For a given bre orientation, it is observed that damping increases when the frequency is increased. The values of the damping increase when the frequency is increased from 50 to 600 Hz are reported in Table 2 for the different glass bre composites considered. The table shows that the damping increase is fairly the same for the different bre orientations in the case of a given laminate. The increase is fairly higher in the case of unidirectional laminates (2126%) and unidirectional cloth laminates (18 22%) than in the case of taffeta laminates (1520%) and serge laminates (1721%). The variations of the loss factor with bre or cloth orientation are given in Figs. 79 for the three frequencies 50, 300 and 600 Hz. In the case of unidirectional glass bre laminates and unidirectional glass cloth laminates, the transverse damping is higher than the longitudinal damping, and the damping is maximum at a bre orientation of about 60 for the glass bre composites. In the case of taffeta and serge laminates, the damping variation is symmetric with a damping maximum for the orientation of 45. The analysis using the Ritz method (Section 2.4) or the analysis using the nite element method (Section 2.6) can be applied to the experimental results obtained for the bending of beams. The beams were considered in the form of plates with one edge clamped and with the others free. The results obtained are identical by using either the Ritz analysis or the nite element analysis, and these results are reported in Figs. 79. A good agreement is obtained with the experimental results. The values of the loss factors in the material directions considered for modelling the damping results are reported in Tables 36 for the frequencies 50, 300 and 600 Hz. The loss factors are fairly identical for the taffeta laminates and serge laminates. The increase of bres in the 90 direction from the uni-

mLT
0.24 0.24 0.25 0.24

GLT (GPa) 2.25 3.8 2.05 2.10

A.E. Mahi et al. / Composites: Part B 39 (2008) 10691076

1073

Laser vibrometer OFV 302 R

Impact hammer ICP PCB 086B03

Beam

Clamping block

Signal conditioner OFV 3000 Dynamic analyser SigLab 20-22

Fig. 2. Experimental equipment.

1.6

1.7 1.5

Loss factor i (%)

Loss factor i (%)

= 60 = 45 = 75 = 90 = 30

= 45
1.4 1.2

= 30, = 60

1.3 1.1 0.9 0.7

= 15, = 75
1.0

= 15

= 0, = 90
0.8 0.6 0.4

= 0
0.5 0.3 0 200 400 600 800

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 3. Experimental results obtained for the damping as function of the frequency for different bre orientations, in the case of unidirectional glass bre composites.

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 5. Experimental results obtained for the damping as function of the frequency for different orientations, in the case of glass taffeta composites.

1.8 1.6 1.4

1.6

Loss factor i (%)

= 60 = 45 = 75 = 90 = 30

= 45 1.4 1.2 = 15, = 75 1.0 = 0, = 90 0.8 0.6 0.4 = 30, = 60

Loss factor i (%)

1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

0 200 400 600 800

= 15 = 0

1000

1200

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 4. Experimental results obtained for the damping as function of the frequency for different orientations, in the case of unidirectional glass cloth composites.

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 6. Experimental results obtained for the damping as function of the frequency for different orientations, in the case of glass serge composites.

1074 Table 2 Damping increase (%) in the frequency range [50, 600 Hz] Fibre orientation () Unidirectional glass bre composites Unidirectional glass cloth composites Glass taffeta composites Glass serge composites 0 21 19 15 18 15 24 20 17 19 30 26 21 20 21

A.E. Mahi et al. / Composites: Part B 39 (2008) 10691076

1.6
45 23 19 19 17 60 26 22 20 21 75 23 20 18 19 90 27 18 15 18

1.4

Loss factor i (%)

1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 f = 50 Hz f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz f = 50 Hz f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz 50 60 70 80 90

2.0 1.8

Experimental results

Loss factor i (%)

1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 Experimental results 0.8 0.6 0.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 Modelling f = 50 Hz f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz f = 50 Hz f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz 60 70 80 90
f (Hz) 50 300 600

Modelling

0.4 0 10 20 30 40

Fibre orientation ()
Fig. 9. Variation of the loss factor as function of orientation in the case of glass taffeta or serge composites. Comparison between experimental results and modelling.

Table 3 Loss factors derived from modelling in the case of unidirectional glass bre laminates

Fibre orientation ()

g11 (%)
0.35 0.40 0.45

g12
0 0 0

g22 (%)
1.30 1.50 1.65

g66 (%)
1.80 2.00 2.22

Fig. 7. Variation of the loss factor as function of bre orientation in the case of unidirectional glass bre composites. Comparison between experimental results and modelling.

1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 Experimental results 0.8 0.6 0.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Modelling f = 50 Hz f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz f = 50 Hz f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz

Table 4 Loss factors derived from modelling in the case of unidirectional glass cloth laminates f (Hz) 50 300 600

g11 (%)
0.50 0.55 0.58

g12
0 0 0

g22 (%)
1.24 1.40 1.43

g66 (%)
1.61 1.85 2.11

Loss factor i (%)

Table 5 Loss factors derived from modelling in the case of glass taffeta laminates f (Hz) 50 300 600

g11 (%)
0.66 0.83 0.89

g12
0 0 0

g22 (%)
0.65 0.84 0.9

g66 (%)
1.50 1.75 1.80

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 8. Variation of the loss factor as function of orientation in the case of unidirectional cloth bre composites. Comparison between experimental results and modelling. Table 6 Loss factors derived from modelling in the case of glass serge laminates f (Hz) 50 300 600

directional laminates to taffeta and serge laminates leads to an increase of the loss factor g11 in the 0 direction, a decrease of the loss factor g22 in the 90 direction and a decrease of the shear loss factor g66. 4.2. Damping of different laminates Laminates with three different stacking sequences were analysed: [0/90/0/90]s cross-ply laminates, [0/90/45/45]s laminates and [h/h/h/h]s angle-ply laminates with h varying from 0 to 90. The laminates were prepared from eight plies of the unidirectional materials studied in the previous subsection. The nominal thickness of the laminates was 2.4 mm and the analysis was implemented in the case of beams 200 mm long and 20 mm width.

g11 (%)
0.67 0.83 0.89

g12
0 0 0

g22 (%)
0.67 0.83 0.89

g66 (%)
1.53 1.78 1.83

Figs. 1012 report the results deduced for the damping by the nite element analysis and the experimental damping measured for the rst two modes. The evaluation of laminate damping by modelling takes account of the variation of the loss factors g11, g22 and g66 with frequency (Table 3). For the cross-ply laminates (Fig. 10) and [0/90/45/45]s laminates (Fig. 11), the material damping is derived as function of laminate orientation. For the [h/h/h/h]s angle-ply laminates (Fig. 12), damping is reported as function of the ply orientation h. The damping deduced from the

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1075

1.2
1.4 1.2

Taffeta Serge 1.0 [(0/90)2]s [02/902]s 0.8

Loss factor i (%)

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4

mode mode mode mode 1 2 1 2

Modelling Experimental results

Loss factor i (%)

80 90

0.6

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0.4

Fibre orientation ()
Fig. 10. Damping variation as function of laminate orientation for beams of [0/90/0/ 90]s cross-ply laminates.

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 13. Comparison between damping of taffeta and serge laminates and damping of cross-ply laminates, for 0 orientation of the laminates.

1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4

Modelling Experimental results

mode 1 mode 2 mode 1 mode 2

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Fibre orientation ()
Fig. 11. Damping variation as function of laminate orientation for beams of [0/90/ 45/45]s laminates.

1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4

Modelling Experimental results
mode 1 mode 2 mode 1 mode 2

the stacking sequence leads to a slight increase of the bending properties in the 0 direction. Thus, compared to the damping of unidirectional composites (Fig. 7), the stacking sequence [0/90/0/90]s leads to a more symmetric variation of damping as function of the orientation with damping characteristics which are slightly higher in the 90 direction (Fig. 10). Near 45 orientations, damping of the [0/90/ 0/90]s laminates is clearly reduced (about 1.2% for the rst two modes) compared to the damping of the unidirectional laminates (about 1.4%). This reduction results from the in-plane shear deformation which is constrained by the [0/90] stacking sequence. The use of the [90/0/90/0]s stacking sequence would lead to a damping behaviour where the 0 and 90 directions would be inverted. For [0/90/45/45]s laminates (Fig. 11), the damping behaviour is practically symmetric as function of the bre orientation with an in-plane shear constrain effect which is more important than in the case of cross-ply laminates, leading to a reduction of the damping near 45 orientation, for modes 1 and 2: loss factor of about 1%. In the case of the [h/h/h/h]s angle-ply laminates and for the rst three modes (Fig. 12), the damping for ply angles higher than 60 is practically the same as damping observed for the unidirectional beams with bre orientation equal to h. For lower values of ply angle, it is observed a reduction of laminate damping comparatively to the unidirectional composites, associated to the inplane constrain effect induced by the [h/h/h/h]s sequence. 4.3. Damping comparison between taffeta laminates, serge laminates and cross-ply laminates Fig. 13 compares the results obtained for damping in the case of taffeta laminates, serge laminates and cross-ply laminates, for 0 orientation of the laminates. Two cross-ply laminates are considered: [(0/90)2]s and [02/902]s. Damping of [(0/90)2]s laminates is slightly higher than that of [02/902]s laminates. This fact results from the damping of the 90 layers which are more external in the [(0/90)2]s laminates. In Fig. 13, it is observed that the damping of taffeta and serge laminates is clearly higher than the damping of cross-ply laminates. This increase of damping may be associated with the energy which is dissipated by friction between the warp bres and weft bres, in the case of the taffeta and serge laminates. 5. Conclusions

Loss factor i (%)

Loss factor i (%)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Fibre orientation ()
Fig. 12. Damping variation as function of laminate orientation for beams of [h/h/h/ h]s angle-ply laminates.

nite element analysis was evaluated by extending the results of Section 2.5 and applying the results to the different laminates. The in-plane behaviour of the [0/90/0/90]s cross-ply laminates is the same in the 0 and 90 directions, when the external 0 layers of

An evaluation of the damping of orthotropic composite materials was presented based on a nite element analysis of the vibrations of a composite structure. The analysis derived the strain energies

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A.E. Mahi et al. / Composites: Part B 39 (2008) 10691076 [2] Gibson RF, Wilson DG. Dynamic mechanical properties of ber-reinforced composite materials. Shock Vibration Digest 1979;11(10):311. [3] Adams RD, Bacon DGC. Effect of ber orientation and laminate geometry on the dynamic properties of CFRP. J Compos Mater 1973;7:4028. [4] Ni RG, Adams RD. The damping and dynamic moduli of symmetric laminated composite beams. Theoretical and experimental results. Compos Sci Technol 1984;18:10421. [5] Adams RD, Maheri MR. Dynamic exural properties of anisotropic brous composite beams. Compos Sci Technol 1994;50:497514. [6] Lin DX, Ni R, Adams RD. Prediction and measurement of the vibrational parameters of carbon and glass-bre reinforced plastic plates. J Compos Mater 1984;18:13252. [7] Maheri MR, Adams RD. Finite element prediction of modal response of damped layered composite panels. Compos Sci Technol 1995;55:1323. [8] Yim JH. A damping analysis of composite laminates using the closed form expression for the basic damping of Poissons ratio. Compos Struct 1999;46:40511. [9] Yim JH, Jang BZ. An analytical method for prediction of the damping in symmetric balanced laminates composites. Polymer Compos 1999;20(2):1929. [10] Yim JH, Gillespie Jr JW. Damping characteristics of 0 and 90 AS4/3501-6 unidirectional laminates including the transverse shear effect. Compos Struct 2000;50:21725. [11] Young D. Vibration of rectangular plates by the Ritz method. J Appl Mech 1950;17:44853. [12] Berthelot J-M, Sefrani Y. Damping analysis of unidirectional glass and Kevlar bre composites. Compos Sci Technol 2004;64:126178. [13] Berthelot J-M. Damping analysis of laminated beams and plates using the Ritz method. Compos Struct 2006;74:186201. [14] Berthelot J-M. Composite materials. Mechanical behavior and structural analysis. New York: Springer; 1999. [15] Baker WE, Woolom WE, Young D. Air and internal damping of thin cantilever beams. Int J Mech Sci 1967;9:74366. [16] Adams RD, Bacon DGC. Measurement of the exural damping capacity and dynamic Youngs modulus of metals and reinforced plastics. J Phys D: Appl Phys 1973;6:2741. [17] Crane RM, Gillespie JW. Characterization of the vibration damping loss factor of glass and graphite ber composites. Compos Sci Technol 1991;40:35575.

stored in the material directions and the energy dissipated by damping in the structure can be obtained as a function of the strain energies and the damping coefcients associated to the different energies stored in the material directions. Damping characteristics of laminates were evaluated experimentally using beam specimens subjected to an impulse input. Loss factors were then derived by tting the experimental Fourier responses with the analytical motion responses expressed in modal coordinates. Damping parameters were rst measured in the case of beams of unidirectional glass bre composites, unidirectional glass cloth composites, glass taffeta composites and serge composites. The experimental results obtained for the loss factors show a signicant increase of material damping with frequency. The analysis was then applied to the study of the damping of [0/ 90/0/90]s, [0/90/45/45]s and [h/h/h/h]s beams. The evaluation of damping takes account of the loss factors with frequency. It was observed that the stacking sequences [0/90/0/90]s and [0/90/ 45/45]s lead to practically similar damping properties in 0 and 90 bre directions, when [h/h/h/h]s angle-ply laminates show rather similar properties to unidirectional laminates with bre orientation equal to h. Also, it was observed that damping of taffeta and serge composites is signicantly higher than damping of cross-ply laminates. This fact was associated with friction between the warp bres and weft bres in the case of the taffeta and serge laminates. References
[1] Gibson RF, Plunkett RA. Dynamic stiffness and damping of ber-reinforced composite materials. Shock Vibration Digest 1977;9(2):917.