Finite Element Analysis to Investigate the Influence of Delamination Size, Stacking Sequence and Boundary Conditions on the Vibration Behavior of Composite Plate

Composite structures are widely used in many applications ranging from, but not limited to, aerospace industry, automotive, and marine structures due to their attractive mechanical properties like high strength to weight ratios. However composite structures needs utmost care during structures manufacturing and working conditions should be assessed prior to installation. One of the important defect in composite structures is delamination. Present work is focused on investigation of delamination effects on the natural frequencies of composite plate using commercial finite element software, ABAQUS. Analytical results were also analyzed using MATLAB code. Different stacking sequences and boundary conditions are considered for study in both analytical formulation and finite element analysis. Finite element results are compared with analytical results to validate the perfect composite plate. The natural frequency of the composite plate reduced with an increase in delamination size. Additionally, all-sides clamped composite plate showed higher values of natural frequency than other constraints in lower modes for symmetrical laminates. Natural frequency in cross ply laminates are higher for the simply supported composite plates. On comparison, results from both the techniques, finite element analysis and analytical analysis, were in good agreement.