Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414

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Free vibration of composite plates using the
nite dierence method
Karim S. Numayr, Rami H. Haddad

, Madhar A. Haddad
Civil Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid, Jordan
Received 10 August 2002; received in revised form 30 July 2003; accepted 30 July 2003
Abstract
The nite dierence method was used to solve dierential equations of motion of free
vibration of composite plates with dierent boundary conditions. The eects of shear defor-
mation and rotary inertia on the natural frequencies of laminated composite plates are inves-
tigated in this paper. Four cases are studied: neglecting both shear deformation and rotary
inertia, considering only rotary inertia, considering only shear deformation, and considering
both. Solutions were obtained for symmetric and angle-ply laminated plates. The factors
that aect natural frequencies of dierent composite plates, such as span-to-depth ratio,
aspect ratio, angle-ply, and lamination sequence were also investigated. Results were found
to agree well with exact and approximate solutions reported in literature. Shear deformation
showed a considerable eect on the natural frequencies for composite plates, whereas the
rotary inertia eect was found to be negligible.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Plates; Laminates; Composite materials; Free vibration; Natural frequency; Shear defor-
mation; Rotary inertia
1. Introduction
Laminated and brous composites are increasingly used in various areas,
especially in the aerospace industry where they are subjected to dynamic loads.
Laminated structural elements exhibit properties, which are more favorable than
those of single-layer and isotropic ones. Also, ber reinforced composite materials
have high strength to density ratio, and relatively low cost. Fibers can be oriented

Corresponding author. Tel.: +962-2-709-5111; fax: +962-2-709-5018.

E-mail address: rhaddad@just.edu.jo (R.H. Haddad).
0263-8231/$ - see front matter #2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tws.2003.07.001
to provide minimum structure weight for a given structure geometry and a given
system of loads. The ratio of in-plane Youngs modulus to transverse shear modulus
is relatively high for composite plates because of the great dierence between elastic
properties of ber lament and matrix materials. This leads to using the classical
plate theory, which neglects transverse shear deformation, is invalid for most com-
posite plates, even those which are geometrically thin, including shear deformation
and/or rotary inertia yields a mathematical complexity of the dynamic problem of
composite plates. Therefore, a numerical solution such as the nite element method
or the nite dierence method can be used to solve this class of problem.
Dierent studies have been conducted to determine the dynamic properties of
composite laminates [113]. Whitney [1] considers a higher order theory, which
includes the eect of transverse shear and rotary inertia deformations. His
approach is an extension of theories developed by Reissner [2] and Mindlin [3] for
homogeneous isotropic plates. An exact solution was attained for the simply sup-
ported case, only.
Wu and Vinson [4] studied the eect of shear deformations on the fundamental
natural frequency of composite plates with dierent boundary conditions: clamped,
simply supported, and combined clamped and simply supported edges. This sol-
ution was based on Galerkins method and assumed functions analogous to those
of Warburton [5]. The author found that for a plate composed of highly aniso-
tropic composite layers with either clamped or simply supported edges, the eect of
transverse shear deformations is signicant for both small and large amplitude
vibration. Using another approach, Hearmon [6] applied RayleyRitz method to
especial orthotropic plates, with clamped and simply supported boundary con-
ditions, neglecting transverse shear, and rotary inertia deformations.
Bert [7] presented the eect of shear deformation on vibrations of antisymmetric
angle-ply laminated rectangular plates. The displacement formulation of hetero-
geneous shear deformation plate theory oriented by Yang, Norris, and Stavsky [8]
was used. Numerical results are presented showing the parametric eect of aspect
ratio, length-to-thickness ratio, number of layers and lamination angle. It was con-
cluded that: (a) the eect of relative transverse shear deformation on the funda-
mental frequency is greater for antisymmetric angle-ply plates than for
homogeneous isotropic plates of the same dimensions, and (b) the eect of plate
aspect ratio (a/b) on the fundamental frequency is more pronounced in thicker
plates (low a/h ratio) than that of thin plates (high a/h ratio).
Bhimaraddi and Stevens [9] presented a higher order theory for free vibration of
orthotropic, homogeneous, and laminated rectangular plates. The theory accounts
for in-plane inertia, rotary inertia, and shear deformation eects. The proposed
method used Hamiltons principle and assumed parabolic variations for transverse
shear strains across the thickness of plate. The main conclusions were: (a) the
thickness of plate has a more pronounced eect on the behavior of composite
plates than that of the behavior of isotropic plates; (b) the transverse shear defor-
mation eect are more pronounced in thin composite laminated plates; and (c) the
frequencies predicted by the present analysis are closer to exact values than those
predicted by shear deformation theory.
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 400
Reddy [10] presented a layerwise theory for the analysis of free vibration of lami-
nated plates. This theory is the most current and sophisticated theory in which full
account is given to various three-dimensional eects. The classical laminated plate
theory, the rst order shear deformation laminated plate theory, and the third-
order shear deformation plate theory were considered. The elasticity equations
were solved by utilizing the state-space variables and the transfer matrix. Results
were also obtained for symmetric and antisymmetric laminates.
Mirza and Li [11] presented an analytical approach based on the reciprocal the-
orem for the free vibration of sandwich plates. Whereas, Marco and Ugo [12] pre-
sented a higher order plate element formulation for symmetrically [0
v
/90
v
/0
v
/90
v
/
0
v
] square plate for the case of simply supported boundary conditions. The trans-
verse shear stress distribution across the thickness of thick multilayered anisotropic
plates was obtained using the higher order nite element procedure.
Whitney [13] presented solutions for exural vibration frequency of symmetric
and nonsymmetric laminates by adopting the bending theory for anistropic lami-
nated plates developed by Yang, Norris, and Stevsky [8]. The latter theory con-
sidered shear deformation and rotary inertia in the same manner as that in
Mindlins theory for isotropic homogenous plates. The results indicated that shear
deformation can be quite signicant for composites with a span-to-depth ratio as
high as 20, and insignicant for homogeneous isotropic plates with the same ratio.
Based on the previously outlined literature, it is clear that the behavior of com-
posites plates subjected to free vibration was not well established since none of the
approximate or the exact solutions obtained covered all possible boundary con-
ditions, geometric factors, and dierent types of composite materials. In addition,
individual or combined eects of shear deformation, and/or rotary inertia on the
natural frequency of composite plates was not fully understood. Hence, this paper
aims at utilizing the nite dierence method in order to:
1. Perform dynamic analysis of composite plates in order to have a better under-
standing of the dynamic behavior of dierent plates in lieu with dierent para-
meters associated with the problem.
2. Find the natural frequency of symmetrically laminated and ber-reinforced
composite plates of various boundary conditions and comparing obtained
results with those in the literature.
3. Study the eect of including and excluding shear and rotary inertia deforma-
tions, that is studying the following four cases: (a) neglecting both shear and
rotary inertia deformations; (b) considering only rotary inertia deformation;
(c) considering only shear deformation; (d) considering both shear and rotary
inertia deformations.
4. Study the eect of ber orientation on the natural frequency.
2. Problem formulation
In order to have a better insight into the eects of shear deformation and rotary
inertia on the solution of the dynamic problem of composite plates with laminates,
401 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
cases (a) to (d) of objective (3) were considered in the formulation of the dieren-
tial equations of motion. In the derivation process, the following basic assumptions
were made:
1. The plate is constructed of an arbitrary number of orthotropic layers bonded
together. The principal axes of material of an individual layer need not to
coincide with geometric axes of the plate.
2. The plate is thin and has a constant thickness; i.e. the thickness h is much smal-
ler than other dimensions.
3. The inplane displacements u, v in x and y directions, respectively, and the trans-
verse displacement w in the z direction are all small compared to the plate thick-
ness.
4. Inplane strains e
x
; e
y
, and c
xy
are small compared to unity.
5. Each ply obeys Hookes law; linear elastic behavior.
2.1. Case (a): Neglecting both shear deformation and rotary inertia
The dynamic equilibrium of the innitesimal element shown in Fig. 1 yields the
following partial dierential equation of motion [1]:
D
11
@
4
w
@x
4
2 D
12
2D
66

@
4
w
@x
2
@y
2
D
22
@
4
w
@y
4
q
@
2
w
@t
2
1
where D
11
, D
12
, D
22
, and D
66
are rigidities in the principle materials direction, and
q is the average mass density of all laminates.
Fig. 1. Nomenclature for moments and transverse force in plate element subjected to free vibration.
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 402
2.2. Case (b): Considering rotary inertia deformation, only
For this case, the translational partial dierential equation of motion becomes:
D
11
@
4
w
@x
4
2 D
12
2D
66

@
4
w
@x
2
@y
2
D
22
@
4
w
@y
4
I
@
4
w
@x
2
@t
2
I
@
4
w
@y
2
@t
2
q
@
2
w
@t
2
2
where, I

h
=2
h
=2
qz
2
dz is the mass moment of inertia per unit area.
2.3. Case (c): Considering shear deformation only
For this case of including shear deformation, the inter-laminar shear strains are:
c
xz
w
x

@w
@x
c
yz
w
y

@w
@y
where w
x
, w
y
are rotations in the x and y directions, respectively.
Application of rotational and translational dynamic equilibrium of the innitesi-
mal element yields the following three partial dierential equations of motion;
D
11
@
2
w
x
@x
2
D
12
D
66

@
2
w
y
@x@y
D
66
@
2
w
x
@y
2

5
6
A
55
w
x

@w
@x

0 3
D
12
D
66

@
2
w
x
@x@y
D
66
@
2
w
y
@x
2
D
22
@
2
w
y
@y
2

5
6
A
44
w
y

@w
@y

0 4
5
6
A
55
@w
x
@x

@
2
w
@x
2

5
6
A
44
@w
y
@y

@
2
w
@y
2

q
@
2
w
@t
2
5
where A
44
, A
55
are the shear rigidities.
These equations cannot be reduced to one equation as in the previous two cases,
even in the absence of rotary inertia terms.
2.4. Case (d): Considering both shear and rotary inertia deformations
Dierential equations of motion for this case is similar to that of the previous
case except that the inertia moments I
@
2
w
x
@t
2
and I
@
2
w
y
@t
2
appear on the right hand sides
of Eqs. (3) and (4), respectively. The general form of partial dierential equations
of motion for angle-ply laminates, including shear deformation and rotary inertia,
403 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
are as follows:
D
11
@
2
w
x
@x
2
2D
16
@
2
w
x
@x@y
D
66
@
2
w
x
@y
2
D
16
@
2
w
y
@x
2
D
12
D
16

@
2
w
y
@x@y
D
26
@
2
w
y
@y
2

5
4
A
55
w
x

@w
@x

A
45
w
y

@w
@y

I
@
2
w
x
@t
2
6
D
16
@
2
w
x
@x
2
D
12
D
66

@
2
w
x
@x@y
D
26
@
2
w
x
@y
2
D
66
@
2
w
y
@x
2
2D
26
@
2
w
y
@x@y
D
22
@
2
w
y
@y
2
k A
45
w
x

@w
@x

A
44
w
y

@w
@y

I
@
2
w
y
@t
2
7
5
6
A
55
@w
x
@x

@
2
w
@x
2

A
45
@w
x
@y

@w
y
@x
2
@
2
w
@x@y

A
44
@w
y
@y

@
2
w
@y
2

q
@
2
w
@t
2
8
in which coupling rigidity terms D
26
and A
45
are included in the formulation.
3. Method of solution
The following separation of variables is used:
w x; y; t w x; y e
iXt
9
For the transverse displacement function and
w
x
x; y; t w
x
x; y e
iXt
10
w
y
x; y; t w
y
x; y e
iXt
11
for the rotation functions, where t is the time and X is the natural frequency.
The resulted partial dierential equations (PDE) in terms of mid-plane variables
(x,y) are then solved using the nite dierence method by substituting the central
dierence derivatives of displacements and rotations in the PDE. Several boundary
conditions are considered for each one of the four cases. For instance, for a simply
supported x-edges (y 0 or y b), the boundary conditions in discrete form
would be: wm; n 0; w m; n 1 w m; n 1 ; w
y
m; n 1 w
y
m; n 1 ;
and w
x
m; n 0; where (m,n) is a point on the x-edge as shown in Fig. 2.
Whereas, for a clamped y-edge (x 0 or x a), the boundary conditions would
be: wm; n 0; wm1; n wm1; n; w
x
m; n 0; w
y
m; n 0; where (m,n)
is a point on the y-edge, Fig. 2.
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 404
The UNIX system was used to solve the eigen value problem of the dierent for-
mulated matrices to nd the natural frequencies. Because of the large size of sti-
ness and mass matrices, it was dicult to enter data by hand; therefore mesh
generation programs were made using Fortran language. The computation time for
these programs was small even though their sizes reached up to (50 50). These
matrices were either symmetric or nonsymmetric depending on the case studied
and on the boundary conditions. JACOBI and DETERMINANT programs were
used to nd the natural frequencies for symmetric and nonsymmetric matrices,
respectively.
4. Analysis and discussion of results
In this section, the results obtained in this paper were validated by comparing
them with those reported in the literature for plates of varying dimensions and
boundary conditions considering cases (a) to (d). In addition, the convergence rate,
as the number of mesh divisions increased, was discussed. Finally, using the
present technique, the natural frequencies for composite plates with varying width
to depth ratios, aspect ratios, angle-ply values and lamination sequences were
obtained, while considering dierent composite materials. The materials used and
their properties are listed in Table 1.
4.1. Validation and convergence of present results
The results obtained using the nite dierence method have been compared with
approximate and exact values reported in literature for plates with varying bound-
ary conditions, geometric parameters, and materials properties, for the cases of
including or excluding shear deformations and/or rotary inertia. Nondimensional
Fig. 2. A schematic showing the plate mesh numbering.
405 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
fundamental frequencies x
11
for a [0
v
/90
v
/90
v
/0
v
] boron/epoxy simple-xed
supported square plate of dierent span-to-depth ratios (a/h) as calculated by the
present technique, Vinson and Chou [14] and Hearman [6] considering case (a) are
listed in Table 2. Tables 3 and 4 show nondimensional fundamental frequencies for
a xed boron/epoxy square plate, computed in the present study, compared to
exact and approximate solutions [4] for cases (a) and (c), respectively. Good agree-
ment between the present results and those reported by Wu and Vinson [4] can be
Table 2
Nondimensional fundamental frequeny of a xed-simple cross-ply boron/epoxy square plate for dier-
ent span depth ratios, Case (a) (h 2:5 cm)
a/h
x
11
x
11
a
2

q=E
T
h
3
p
Present Hearmon [6] Vinson and Chou [14]
10 0.624823 0.632463 0.643435
20 0.631608 0.6324631 0.643435
30 0.631388 0.6324631 0.643435
40 0.632112 0.6324631 0.643435
50 0.632438 0.6324631 0.643435
Table 1
Engineering properties of composite materials
Property Material
B/E [14] G/E [15] (AS/3501-6) Glass/E [16] Steel
E
1
224.649 144.800 9.710 207
E
2
12.753 9.650 3.250 N.A.
m
12
0.256 0.300 0.290 0.270
m
12
0.0146 0.020 0.097 N.A.
G
12
4.434 4.140 0.903 83
G
12
4.434 4.140 0.903 N.A.
G
12
2.497 3.450 0.236 N.A.
q 2440 1389 1347 7849
B, boron; E, epoxy; G, graphite.
Table 3
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies of a xed cross ply boron/epoxy square plate, Case (a)
(a b 75 cm; h 2:5 cm)
Mode number
x
mn
x
mn
a
2

q=E
T
h
3
p
m n Present Hearmon [6] Vinson and Chou [14]
1 1 1 0.9001671 0.9049738 0.9072362
2 1 2 1.3150953 1.3239921 1.3733217
3 1 3 2.1395865 2.1667976 2.2264539
4 1 4 3.3076284 3.3888332 3.4474835
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 406
noticed. Yet, it should be indicated that as the mode number increased, the present
results showed some divergence from those found by Hearmon [6] and Vinson and
Chou [14].
Figs. 3 and 4 show convergence rate of the nondimensional fundamental fre-
quency x
11
as the number of divisions is increased for a cross-ply boron/epoxy
rectangular plate and for cases (b) and (d), respectively. As can be seen, the rate of
convergence depends on the initial guess; it increases if the exact value turned out
to be larger than the initial guess and vice versa.
4.2. Eect of shear deformation and/or rotary inertia
To have better insight about the eect of including or excluding shear defor-
mation and/or rotary inertia on the dynamic properties of composite plates with
dierent boundary conditions, Tables 5 and 6 are presented herein. As can be
noticed, including shear deformation had signicantly aected the natural
Table 4
Nondimensional fundamental frequencies of a xed boron/epoxy square plate, case (c)
(a b 75 cm; h 2:5 cm)
Mode number
x
mn
x
mn
a
2

q=E
T
h
3
p
m n Present Vinson and Chou [14]
1 1 1 0.8323117 0.8384779
2 1 2 1.2198056 1.262727
3 1 3 1.8062964 1.8566729
4 1 4 2.6693444 2.748363
Fig. 3. Convergence rate of the nondimensional fundamental frequency for a simply supported cross-ply
boron/epoxy rectangular plate (a 75 cm; b 50 cm; h 2:5 cm).
407 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
frequency values, contrary to that when including rotary inertia. Moreover, it
should be indicated that the percentage change in the nondimensional fundamental
frequencies due to the inclusion of shear deformation is dependent on the span-
Fig. 4. Convergence rate of the nondimensional fundamental frequency for a xed supported cross-ply
boron/epoxy rectangular plate (a 75 cm; b 50 cm; h 2:5 cm).
Table 5
Present nondimensional fundamental frequeny of a xed-simple cross-ply boron/epoxy square plate for
dierent span depth ratios (h 2:5 cm)
a/h
x
mn
x
mn
a
2

q=E
T
h
3
p
Case (a) Case (b) Case (c) Case (d)
10 0.624823 0.62264 0.471879 0.471879
20 0.631608 0.62618 0.579435 0.5794345
30 0.631388 0.62687 0.619187 0.6191887
40 0.632112 0.62773 0.62276 0.6227567
50 0.632438 0.62799 0.629389 0.6293886
Table 6
Present nondimensional fundamental frequencies of a xed boron/epoxy cross-ply square plate
(a b 75 cm; h 2:5 cm)
Mode
number
x
mn
x
mn
a
2

q=E
T
h
3
p
m n Case (a) Case (b) Case (c) Case (d)
1 1 1 0.9001671 0.8999772 0.8323117 0.8321170
2 1 2 1.3150953 1.3107414 1.2198056 1.2193327
3 1 3 2.1395865 2.1296714 1.8062964 1.7963615
4 1 4 3.3076284 3.2831078 2.6693444 2.6448522
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 408
to-depth ratio, as well as the mode number as indicated by Tables 5 and 6, respect-
ively. The results showed less eect of including shear deformations at higher span
depth ratios, and at a lower mode number.
4.3. Eect of plate geometry and boundary conditions on natural frequency
4.3.1. Span depth ratio
Fig. 5 shows the eect of span-to-depth ratio (a/h) on the fundamental fre-
quency of a simply supported square cross-ply boron/epoxy plate for cases (a) and (c).
The span-to-depth ratio has almost a negligible eect on the results when shear
deformation is excluded, case (a), and a signicant eect when shear deformation is
included, case (c), especially at low ratios. At higher span-to-depth ratios greater
than 30, the inuence of including shear deformation on nondimensional fre-
quencies is minor; although values remain smaller than those obtained for case (a).
Analysis of composite plates with dierent boundary conditions was carried out;
xed (xed at four edges), xed-simple (xed from two adjacent edges and simple
at the other two edges), and simple (simply supported at four edges). The results
obtained show, as expected, that natural frequencies are more for the xed bound-
ary conditions than those for the xed-simple and less for the simple boundary
conditions. This is attributed to the stiness which is the highest in xed plates and
the lowest in simply supported ones. The above results showed that the eect of
shear deformation on a xed plate is more than that on a simply supported one:
the eective length for a xed plate is lower hence a/h ratio (Fig. 6).
Fig. 7 shows the eect of span depth ratio on the nondimensional fundamental
frequency, considering case (c), for a plate xed from two adjacent edges and sim-
ple from the other two edges. The plate is made of either graphite, epoxy glass,
Fig. 5. Eect of span depth ratio on the nondimensional fundamental frequency for a simply supported
cross-ply boron/epoxy square plate (h 2:5 cm).
409 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
boron/epoxy, or steel. The spandepth ratio had a considerable eect on the fun-
damental frequency of plates made with composite materials, as the curves showed
an increasing trend especially at lower a/h ratios. On the other hand, curves corre-
Fig. 6. Comparison of the nondimensional fundamental frequency for cross-ply boron/epoxy square
plate under dierent boundary conditions (h 2:5 cm).
Fig. 7. Comparison of the nondimensional fundamental frequency for xed-simple cross-ply square plate
composed of dierent materials (h 2:5 cm).
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 410
sponding to isotropic materials remained almost constant, regardless of the span
depth ratio. This is attributed to the dierence in the elastic properties between
ber lament and matrix materials which leads to a high ratio of in-plane Youngs
modulus to transverse shear modulus for the composite plates.
4.3.2. Aspect ratio
Figs. 8 and 9 show the eect of aspect ratio on the nondimensional fundamen-
tal frequency for a simply supported and a xed boron/epoxy rectangular plates
(b 50 cm; h 2:5 cm), respectively. As the aspect ratio increased, the non-
dimensional fundamental frequency increased because the ratio of area to per-
imeter decreased, thus the stiness increased. The results of Fig. 9 suggests that
when shear and rotary inertia deformations are included, the rate of change of
natural frequency to aspect ratio decreases because the area subjected to shear
increases.
4.4. Eect of composite material properties
Figs. 10 and 11 show the eect of both ber orientation and lamination sequence
on the fundamental frequencies for boron/epoxy square and rectangular plates,
respectively. For the square plate, there is symmetry for the orientation angle 45
v
,
thus a maximum fundamental natural frequency is obtained; the two maximum
components are equal in each direction of the plane of the plate. Whereas for the
rectangular plate the maximum fundamental frequency happens to be between 60
v
and 75
v
, because the dimensions are not equal and the two components resulting
from the ber in the short and long direction are dierent: the component in the
long direction was smaller than that in the short direction. Moreover, it is clear
Fig. 8. Eect of aspect ratio on the nondimensional fundamental frequency for a simply supported
cross-ply boron/epoxy plate (b 50 cm; h 2:5 cm).
411 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
that natural frequency is increased when adopting a lamination sequence in the
manner h=0
v
=0
v
=h

rather than 0
v
=h=h=0
v

, because the distance between the
neutral surface and the ber components is increased.
Fig. 9. Eect of aspect ratio on the nondimensional fundamental frequency for a xed supported cross-
ply boron/epoxy plate (b 50 cm; h 2:5 cm).
Fig. 10. Eect of ber orientation and lamination sequence on the nondimensional fundamental fre-
quency for a simply supported boron/epoxy square plate (a b 50 cm; h 2:5 cm).
K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414 412
5. Conclusions
Based on the results discussed before, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. Including transverse shear deformation in the dynamic analysis of composite
plates resulted in a signicant change in the natural frequency of such plates.
2. Rotary inertia terms have a minor inuence on the values of natural frequency
and therefore could be neglected for the materials used in this study.
3. The eect of shear deformation on the natural frequencies corresponding to higher
modes is more pronounced than that on those corresponding to lower modes.
4. The eect of including transverse shear deformation is greater for fully clamped
plates than for a simply supported ones.
5. The eect of shear deformation is more pronounced for a plate with low span-
to-depth ratio than that for a plate with higher span-to-depth ratio.
6. Fiber orientation (h) has a great eect on the determination of natural fre-
quencies of angle-ply composite plates. For a square plate, maximum funda-
mental frequency is obtained when bbers were oriented at an angle of 45
v
.
7. Composite plates with lamination sequence h=0
v
=0
v
=h

have higher nondimen-
sional fundamental frequencies than those having 0
v
=h=h=0
v

sequence for all
values of (h).
References
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Fig. 11. Eect of ber orientation and lamination sequence on the nondimensional fundamental fre-
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413 K.S. Numayr et al. / Thin-Walled Structures 42 (2004) 399414
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