Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154

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Composites: Part B
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Nonlinear damping and forced vibration analysis of laminated composite beams

Hadj Youzera a, Sid Ahmed Meftah a,⇑, Noël Challamel b, Abdelouahed Tounsi a
a
Laboratoire des Matériaux et Hydrologie, Université de Sidi Bel Abbes, BP 89 Cité Ben M’hidi, 22000 Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria
b
Université Européenne de Bretagne, Université de Bretagne Sud, LIMATB Centre de Recherche, Rue de Saint Maudé, BP 92116, 56321 Lorient cedex, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The purpose of the present work it to study the damping and forced vibrations of three-layered, symmet-
Received 16 June 2011 ric laminated composite beams. In the analytical formulation, both normal and shear deformations are
Received in revised form 2 December 2011 considered in the core by using the higher-order zig-zag theories. The harmonic balance method is
Accepted 2 January 2012
coupled with a one mode Galerkin procedure for a simply supported beam. The geometrically nonlinear
Available online 10 January 2012
coupling leads to a nonlinear frequency amplitude equation governed by several complex coefficients. In
the first part of the paper, linear and nonlinear damping parameters of laminated composite beams are
Keywords:
obtained. In the second part, nonlinear forced vibration analysis is carried out for small and large vibra-
A. Carbon fibre
B. Vibration
tion amplitudes. The frequency response curves are presented and discussed for various geometric and
C. Analytical modelling material properties.
C. Laminate mechanics Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and an imaginary part representing dissipation, has been widely

Fibre reinforced composites are widely used in the aerospace,
automotive, nuclear, marine, biomedical and civil engineering.
Composite materials can be tailored to offer a unique combination
of material capabilities, which may include low density, high
strength, high stiffness, high damping, chemical resistance, thermal
shock resistance and others properties of interests. In order to
control the resonant amplitudes of vibration and thus in extending
service life of laminated composite beams under periodic load or
impact, the damping in the core layer play an important role. At
the constituent level, the energy dissipation in fibre-reinforced
composites is induced by different processes such as the viscoelastic
behaviour of the matrix, the damping at the fibre–matrix interface,
the damping due to damage, etc. At the laminate level, damping is
depending on the constituent layer properties as well as the layer
orientations, interlaminar effects, stacking sequence, etc.
Most of the studies of laminated composite beams are devoted
to linear vibration and damping analysis. Earlier works on this sub-
ject are done by Gibson and Plunkett [1] and Gibson and Wilson [2].
A good overview on the available literature dealing with the vibra-
tion behaviour in presence of viscoelastic material can be found in
the survey articles by Nakra [3,4]. In the earlier works, some of the
important contributions are the works of Heng et al. [5], He and Rao
[6], Rikards [7] and Bhimaraddi [8]. In all these works, a complex
modulus, which consists of a real part representing elastic stiffness
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: meftahs@yahoo.com (S.A. Meftah), noel.challamel@univ-ubs.fr
(N. Challamel).
used to model the behaviour of linear viscoelastic materials under
harmonic vibrations. With respect to the introduction of geometri-
cal nonlinearity for beams with viscoelastic cores, Kovac et al. [9]
and Hyer et al. [10,11] studied the nonlinear vibration of a damped
sandwich beam. This study is based on a multi-mode Galerkin pro-
cedure coupled with the harmonic balance method.
Sandwich and laminated composite beams have been analysed
using the classical models developed for one-layer beams (solid
beams). These models are based on a theory that neglects trans-
verse shear and normal strains and leads to the classical laminate
theory (CLT) [12,13]. Due to the drawbacks of the CLT, a first order
shear deformation theory (FSDT) has been proposed to take into
account the transverse shear deformation [14–16]. The effects of
the transverse shear deformation are pronounced for composite
beams because of the high ratio of the extensional modulus to
the transverse shearing modulus. The FSDT is widely used, and
assumes a constant transverse shear strain in the thickness direc-
tion [17]. Therefore, a shear correction factor is generally used to
adjust the transverse shear stiffness in dynamic analyses of
laminates [18–21]. To avoid the use of a shear correction factor,
higher order shear deformation theories (HSDTs) have been devel-
oped [22–24]. These theories are more realistic, since they give
zero transverse shear stress condition at the top and bottom
surface boundaries of the structure. The HSDTs have been success-
fully and extensively applied to design of multi-layered structural
components. The discontinuity of some mechanical properties in
the thickness direction represents a flaw in these theories. Also,
it should be emphasised that recent research [25,26] has shown
that HSDTs considerably overestimate natural frequencies of

1359-8368/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.01.008
1148 H. Youzera et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154

soft-core sandwich plates. The HSDTs are therefore of limited val- Therefore, according to this mathematical model, the viscoelas-
ues for analysing problems in which an accurate description of the tic constitutive relationships of transversely isotropic materials can
transverse normal stress distribution and related consequences are be described in term of eight parameters; five independent
of interest. To overcome such limitations, Kapuria et al. [27] have dynamic stiffness parameters, E01 ; E02 ; G012 ; m12 and m23, plus three
used zig-zag theories, satisfying the inter-laminar continuity of independent damping loss factors (tan d), g1, g2 and g6 written as
the transverse shear stresses, to predict the dynamic and buckling follows:
responses of laminated beams with arbitrary layouts.
= E01
The aim of this work is to develop a simple consistent theory for Q 11 ¼ ð6aÞ
the nonlinear vibration analysis of laminated composite beams 1  t12 t12
with large amplitudes. This theory couples the harmonic balance
technique to Galerkin procedure. The nonlinear geometrical effect = E02
Q 22 ¼ ð6bÞ
due to axial forces caused by axial restraints is modelled using 1  t12 t12
higher order zig-zag theories, which incorporate various shear
function models for the shear deformation in the core. The nonlin- E02
Q =12 ¼ ð6cÞ
ear amplitude–frequency and phase–frequency relationships are 1  t12 t12
established. The nonlinear frequency value and, in turn, the system
Q 55 ¼ Q 66 ¼ G013 ¼ G012
= =
loss factor ratio are obtained for various amplitudes, for consider- ð6dÞ
ing different geometric and material parameters.
E02
Q =44 ¼ ð6eÞ
2. Viscoelastic model for composite materials 2 þ 2t12

The general form of linear theory of a viscoelastic body is given m12 E02
by [28]
m21 ¼ ð6fÞ
E01
Z t
rðtÞ ¼ Q ijkl ðt  sÞdekl ðsÞ ð1Þ The normal and tangential stress r2 and s, can be expressed as
1 functions of strains by means of the stiffness matrix
  " # 
The moduli for a viscoelastic material are complex numbers. r2 Q 11 0 e2
They have real and imaginary components and can be defined by ¼ ð7Þ
s2 0 Q 55 e13
00
Q ijkl ¼ Q 0ijkl þ iQ ijkl ð2Þ
in which
where Q ijkl are the complex moduli, Q 0ijkl are the storage moduli and
  ¼ Q = ð1 þ ig Þm4 þ ðQ = ð1 þ ig Þ þ Q 0 ð1 þ g Þ
Q
Q 00ijkl are the loss moduli. The assumption of a time independent 11 11 1 12 1 12 2
Poisson’s ratio has been used, by many authors [29,30], to simplify þ 2Q =66 ð1 þ g6 ÞÞm2 n2 þ Q =22 ð1 þ g2 Þn4 ð8aÞ
the characterisation of glass and carbon fibre-reinforced composite,
under structural loading conditions. The Poisson’s ratio is consid-   ¼ Q = ð1 þ g Þn2 þ Q = ð1 þ g Þm2
Q 2 6 ð8bÞ
ered as real and constant. 55 44 55

For this case, the complex moduli can be written in matrix form where
as
m ¼ cos h and n ¼ sin h
½Q   ¼ ½Q 0  þ i½Q 00 ½g ð3Þ
In which h is the angle between the global axis and the local axis
where g are the loss factors. of the fibre in the composite material layer.
If symmetry conditions of transversely isotropic materials are
considered, only five storage modulus parameters and three damp-
3. Formulation
ing coefficients are independent. The two matrices defined in Eq.
(3) can be expressed in matrix form as [31]
3.1. Kinematics
2 = = =
3
Q 11 Q 12 Q 12 0 0 0
6 7 The beam defined with dimensions and coordinate systems, is
6 = 7
6 Q 12 Q =22 Q =23 0 0 0 7 defined in Fig. 1. The laminated composite beam is considered with
6 7
6 7 the coordinates x along the length, y along the width and z along
6 Q= Q =23 Q =22 0 0 0 7
6 12 7
½Q 0  ¼ 6
6
7
7 ð4Þ
6 0 0 0 Q =44 0 0 7
6 7
6 7
6 = 7
6 0 0 0 0 Q 66 0 7 q
4 5
= z
0 0 0 0 0 Q 66
and Metal
Hf
2 3
g1 0 0 0 0 0 Ht Hc Fibre Reinforced composite material
x
6 7
6 0 g2 0 0 0 07 Hf Metal
6 7
6 7
6 0 0 g2 0 0 07
½g ¼ 6
6
7
7 ð5Þ
6 0 0 0 g2 0 07
6 7
6 0 0 0 0 g6 07
4 5 L
0 0 0 0 0 g6 Fig. 1. Laminate beam with fibre Reinforced composite material core.
 H. Youzera et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154 1149

 
Table 1 @wðx; tÞ Hc
Kinematics models considered in the study. u3 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ u02 ðx; tÞ  z f bðx; tÞ ð16Þ
@x 2
Model Name f(z)
According to the assumption of small strains and moderate
1 Timoshenko [17] f(z) = z rotations, the nonlinear strain–displacement relations for each
2 Reddy [22] f ðzÞ ¼ z  4z 3
=3H2c layer can be expressed in the following form [32,33]:
3 Touratier [23] f(z) = Hc sin (pz/Hc)/p
4 Afaq [24] 2  2
f ðzÞ ¼ ze2ðz=Hc Þ @u1 ðx; z; tÞ 1 @wðx; tÞ
e1 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ þ ð17aÞ
@x 2 @x
 2
@u2 ðx; tÞ 1 @wðx; tÞ
e2 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ þ ð17bÞ
the thickness directions as shown in Fig. 1. The faces and core layer @x 2 @x
thickness are Hf and Hc, respectively. L is the length and Ht the total
 2
thickness of the beam. The derivation of the general governing @u3 ðx; tÞ 1 @wðx; tÞ
equations is based on the following assumptions:
e3 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ þ ð17cÞ
@x 2 @x

– No slipping occurs at the interfaces between the three layers of @u2 ðx; z; tÞ @wðx; tÞ
the beam. c¼ þ ð17dÞ
@z @x
– The kinematics of the beam is defined by the transverse
displacement w(x, t) and the independent rotation b(x, t).
3.2. Formulation of forced vibration problem
For the comparison of the various shear functions f(z), the pres-
The bending and membrane strains of the faces and the shear,
ent work is limited to laminated composite and sandwich beams.
bending and membrane strains of the composite interlayer are
In the higher order zig-zag theories, the displacement field is
considered in the following formulation. In free vibration domain,
divided into three parts in order to satisfy displacement and trans-
the principal of virtual works is given by:
verse shear stresses continuity conditions at interfaces by intro-
duction a shear function f(z). The major drawback of these dPint ¼ dPext  dPacc ð18Þ
theories lies in the fact that the total number of the unknowns is
dPext is the virtual works done by external uniform distributed load
dependent on the number of layers. The kinematics can be defined
q(t) and dPacc represents the resulting of virtual works put into the
by
  system as acceleration. The internal virtual work dPint is decom-
Hc þ Hf @wðx; tÞ Hc Ht posed as
u1 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ u01 ðx; tÞ  z  <z6 ð9Þ
2 @x 2 2 ð1Þ ð2Þ ð3Þ
dPint ¼ dPint þ dPint þ dPint ð19Þ
@wðx; tÞ Hc Hc in which þ
ð1Þ
dPint þ
ð2Þ ð3Þ
are the virtual works of the upper me-
dP int dP int
u2 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ u02 ðx; tÞ  z þ f ðzÞbðx; tÞ;  6z6 ð10Þ
@x 2 2 tal, composite layer and lower metal respectively given by:
  Z L    
Hc þ Hf @wðx; tÞ Ht Hc ð1Þ @uðx; tÞ @wðx; tÞ @dwðx; tÞ Hc þ H f
u3 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ u03 ðx; tÞ  z þ  6z6 dPIint ¼ N1 þ 
2 @x 2 2 0 @x @x @x 2
ð11Þ 2 2     #
@ dwðx; tÞ @ dwðx; tÞ Hc @dbðx; tÞ
N1 þM1 þ f N1 dx
where ui(x, z, t) (i = 1, . . . , 3) is the longitudinal displacement along @x2 @x2 2 @x
the thickness of the layer i, u01 ðx; tÞði ¼ 1; . . . ; 3Þ is the axial displace-
ð20Þ
ment of the layer mid-plane. w(x, t) is the common transverse dis-
placement and b(x, t) is the additional rotation of the normal to Z (   !
the mid-plane. By choosing the appropriate mathematical form ð2Þ
L
@uðx; tÞ @wðx; tÞ @dwðx; tÞ @ 2 dwðx; tÞ
dPIint ¼ N2 þ þ ðM 2 Þ
for the shear function in the core, new kinematics refinements for 0 @x @x @x @x2
the core modelling can be represented in Table 1. Considering the Z Hc =2 "  #
continuity of the displacements at the interfaces, Eqs. (9)–(11) the @ 2 wðx; tÞ 2 @bðx; tÞ
 Q 11 b ðf ðzÞz  f ðzÞ dz
displacement fields u01 ðx; tÞ and u03 ðx; tÞ can be expressed as function Hc =2 @x2 @x
of u02 ðx; tÞ: 
@dbðx; tÞ
dx þ Tdbðx; tÞ dx ð21Þ
    @x
Hc þ Hf @wðx; tÞ Hc
u01 ðx; tÞ ¼ u02 ðx; tÞ  þf bðx; tÞ; ð12Þ Z    
2 @x 2 ð3Þ
L
@uðx; tÞ @wðx; tÞ @dwðx; tÞ Hc þ H f
dPIint ¼ N3 þ þ
    0 @x @x @x 2
Hc þ Hf @wðx; tÞ Hc     #
u03 ðx; tÞ ¼ u02 ðx; tÞ þ f bðx; tÞ ð13Þ 2
@ dwðx; tÞ 2
@ dwðx; tÞ Hc @dbðx; tÞ
2 @x 2 N3 þ M  f N dx
3 3
@x2 @x2 2 @x
Substituting Eqs. (12) and (13) into Eqs. (9) and (11), respec- ð22Þ
tively, leads to the axial displacement fields written as:
Here, Ni and Mi (i = 1, . . ., , 3) are the axial forces and the bending mo-
  ments in the laminated composite beam. T is the shear force in the
@wðx; tÞ Hc
u1 ¼ ðx; z; tÞ ¼ u02 ðx; tÞ  z þf bðx; tÞ; ð14Þ core layer. They are defined by
@x 2
 2 !
@u1 1 @w
@wðx; tÞ N1 ¼ Ef Sf þ ð23aÞ
u2 ðx; z; tÞ ¼ u02 ðx; tÞ  z þ f ðzÞbðx; tÞ ð15Þ @x 2 @x
@x
1150 H. Youzera et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154

@2w 3.3. Nonlinear vibration mode and frequency–amplitude relationship

M 1 ¼ Ef I f ð23bÞ
@x2
For the study of nonlinear harmonic vibrations, the response is
 2 !
@u3 1 @w assumed to be harmonic and proportional to the linear vibration
N3 ¼ Ef Sf þ ð23cÞ mode. Based on the one mode Galerkin approximation, the nonlin-
@x 2 @x
ear response is sought by the following form of deflection and rota-
tion functions:
@2w
M 3 ¼ Ef I f ð23dÞ
@x2 ðAeixt þ Aeixt Þ
wðx; tÞ ¼ wðxÞ
2
 2 ! ð32Þ
  @u2 ðx; tÞ 1 @wðx; t ðAeixt þ Aeixt Þ
N2 ¼ Sc Q 11 þ ð23eÞ bðx; tÞ ¼ BðxÞ
@x 2 @x 2
! Z where A is a complex unknown amplitude. The linear vibration
@ 2 wðx; tÞ Hc =2
@bðx; tÞ mode of the undamped laminate beam, satisfies the following
M2 ¼ Ic Q 11  Q 11 zf ðzÞ ð23fÞ
@x2
Hc =2 @x eigenvalue problem:
Z " #
Z  2
L
@dBðxÞ @ 2 wðxÞ
Hc =2 Mb þ Mw þ TdBðxÞ dx
T¼b   @f ðzÞ dzðbðx; tÞÞÞ
Q ð23gÞ 0 @x @x2
55
Hc =2 @z Z L
¼ ð2qf Sf þ qc Sh Þx2 wdwðxÞ dx ð33Þ
The geometrical quantities used in Eqs. (23a–g) are the cross 0

sectional area Sf and Sc and the quadratic moments If and Ic of From this equation and by integrating by part, one finds the follow-
the faces and core layers. The virtual work expressions dPext and ing differential equations:
dPacc are given respectively by:
@Mb
Z L
T ¼0
@x
dP ext ¼ qðtÞdwðx; tÞ dx ð24Þ 2 ð34a-bÞ
@ Mw
0 ¼ ð2qf Sf þ qc Sc Þx2 wðxÞ
@x2
Z L
@ 2 wðx; tÞ In the case of a simply supported beam, the boundary condi-
dP acc ¼ ð2qf Sf þ qSc Þ dwðx; tÞdx ð25Þ
0 @t 2 tions are satisfied by the following expressions:

Using Eqs. (20)-(22), the variational relation Eq. (18) can be

wðxÞ ¼ sinðkxÞ np
where k ¼ ð35Þ
rewritten as: BðxÞ ¼ B cosðkxÞ L
Z L   where the integer n is the mode number. Inserting Eqs. (29), (30),
@uðx; tÞ @wðx; tÞ @dwðx; tÞ @dbðx; tÞ
NT þ þ Mb and (35) into (34a), one gets the expression for B as follows:
0 @x @x @x @x
3
# C2k
2
@ dwðx; tÞ B¼ 2
ð36Þ
þM W þ Tðdbðx; tÞ dx ¼ dPext  dPacc ð26Þ C3k þ C4
@x2
Applying the variational principle to the displacements u, b and
in which w, the following governing differential equations are obtained

  Þe0 @NT ðx; tÞ

NT ðx; tÞ ¼ ð2Ef Sf þ Sc Q 11 2 ð27Þ ¼0
@x
@Mb
@ 2 wðx; tÞ @bðx; tÞ T ¼0
Mw ¼ C 1  C2 ð28Þ @x
@x2 @x
@ 2 wðx; tÞ @ 2 M w @ 2 wðx; tÞ
 NT ðx; tÞ þ þ ð2qf Sf þ qc Sc Þ ¼ qðtÞ
@ 2 wðx; tÞ @bðx; tÞ @x2 @x 2
@t 2
M b ¼ C 2 þ C3 ð29Þ ð37a-cÞ
@x2 @x
Eq. (37a) leads to a constant axial force NT(x, t) = N(t). Assuming that
T ¼ C 4 bðx; tÞ ð30Þ the ends are immovable, from Eq. (37a), one gets the following
expression of the axial force:
and
Z L Z L  2
 2 1 1   Sc Þ @wðx; tÞ
Hc þ Hf NðtÞ ¼ NT ðx; tÞ dx ¼ ð2Ef Sf þ Q 11 dx
C 1 ¼ 2Ef Sf   Ic
þ 2Ef If þ Q ð31aÞ L 0 2L 0 @x
11
2
ð38Þ
    Z Hc =2
Hc þ Hf Hc  b The substitution of Eqs. (28)–(30) into equations Eqs. (37b and 37c)
C 2 ¼ 2Ef Sf f þQ 11 zf ðzÞ dz ð31bÞ and after some manipulation, one obtains a complex scalar differen-
2 2 Hc =2
tial equation similar to the ones established in [34–36] for linear
 2 Z Hc =2 calculation as given by
Hc
C 3 ¼ 2Ef Sf f  b
þQ 11 f ðzÞ2 dz ð31cÞ
2 Hc =2 @ 6 wðx; tÞ @ 4 wðx; tÞ @ 2 wðx; tÞ @ 4 wðx; tÞ
D1  D2 þ D3 þ D4
 2
@x6 @x4 @x2
@x2 @t2
Z Hc =2 2
 b @f ðzÞ @ wðx; tÞ
C4 ¼ Q 55 dz ð31dÞ  D5 ¼ D6 qðtÞ
Hc =2 @z @t 2
 H. Youzera et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154 1151

where  x2 ajMjein þ jKjaeiu þ a3 jK nl jeiw ¼ Qeiv

A ¼ aeiv
C1C3
D1 ¼  C2 ð40aÞ : M ¼ jMjein ð48Þ
C2
iu
K ¼ jKje
C3 C1 C4
D2 ¼ NðtÞ þ ð40bÞ K nl ¼ jK nl jeiw
C2 C2
The corresponding real and imaginary terms of the above equa-
C4 tions are given by:
D3 ¼ NðtÞ ð40cÞ
C2
 x2 ajMj cosðnÞ þ ajKj cosðuÞ þ a3 jK nl j cosðwÞ ¼ Q cosðvÞ
ð49Þ
C3  x2 ajMj sinðnÞ þ ajKj sinðuÞ þ a3 jK nl j sinðwÞ ¼ Q sinðvÞ
D4 ¼ ð2qf Sf þ qc Sc Þ ð40dÞ
C2
After some of manipulations, one obtains the following
C4 frequency–amplitude relation:
D5 ¼ ð2qf Sf þ qc Sc Þ ð40eÞ
C2 x4 jMj2  2ax2 þ k ¼ 0 ð50Þ
C4 where
D6 ¼ ð40fÞ
C2
a ¼ jMKj cosðn  uÞ þ a2 jMK nl j cosðn  wÞ
In order to derive a simplified nonlinear amplitude–frequency Q2 ð51a-bÞ
equation, the expressions Eqs. (32) and (38) are inserted into Eq. k ¼ jKj2 þ a4 jK nl j2 þ 2a2 jKK nl j cosðu  wÞ 
a2
(39). Using the harmonic balance method, a complex scalar nonlin-
The solutions of Eq. (50) are as follows:
ear amplitude equation is then obtained as
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
x MA þ KA þ K nl AA ¼ Q 2
ð41Þ a  a2  jMj2 k
xðaÞ ¼ ð52Þ
jMj
in which
Z Z where x(a) is an amplitude dependent frequency for nonlinear
D5 L
D4 L
@ 2 wðxÞ forced vibration problem.
M¼ ðwðxÞÞ2 dx  wðxÞ dx ð42Þ
D6 0 D6 0 @x2
Z Z 4. Numerical results
C1C4 L
@ 4 wðxÞ D1 L
@ 6 wðxÞ
K¼ wðxÞ dx  WðxÞ dx ð43Þ
D6 C 2 0 @x4 D6 0 @x6 To objectively assess the various higher order zig-zag theories
Z 4 Z 2
associated with the shear function f(z) models listed in Table 1, lin-
L L
C3 @ wðxÞ D3 @ wðxÞ ear and nonlinear free vibration analysis (Q = 0) are carried out.
K nl ¼ NðtÞ wðxÞ dx  wðxÞ dx ð44Þ
D6 C 2 0 @x4 D6 0 @x2 Laminated composite beams with simply supported edges are
considered. The material and geometrical properties of the struc-
and ture are given in Table 2. Results are obtained with MATLAB [37]
Z developed for numerical application. The variation of the system
l
Q¼ qðtÞwðxÞ dx ð45Þ loss factor ratio gnl/gl of the laminated composite beams is studied.
0 Fig. 2 presents on how the various shear function models influence
the ratio gnl/gl. It can be found from these figures that the models
3.4. Linear and nonlinear free vibration analysis of Reddy [22], Touratier [23] and Affaq [24] are accurate enough to
predict satisfactory loss factor ratio gnl/gl. However, in the case of
The linear version of the amplitude Eq. (41) (with Q = 0) leads to thin core with Hf/Hc = 7, the Timoshenko model (f(z) = z) underesti-
an approximate value of the complex eigenfrequency given by mates the loss factor ratio (gnl/gl), since this model cannot present
exactly the transverse shear deformations. The influences of the
K fibre orientation on the loss factor ratio gnl/gl are addressed in
x2 ¼ ¼ X2lin ð1 þ igl Þ ð46Þ Fig. 3. The obtained results show no great dependence between
M
gnl/gl and the amplitude (a/H) for stiff core with h = 0°.Unlike, in
where gl is the loss factor and Xlin is the linear frequency. Free the case of soft core (h = 90°), the dependence between gnl/gl and
vibration analysis of Eq. (41) (with Q = 0) can be achieved by deter-
mining the relationship between the frequency x2 and the ampli-
Table 2
tude a = |A|. Materiel and geometrical parameters.
The nonlinear frequency and loss factor are defined as follows:
Face layers Composite core Whole beam
2 2 11
x ¼X þ ignl Þ Ef = 2.1.10 Pa E1 = 154.5 GPa H = 0.01 m
nl ð1 ð47Þ
qf = 7800 kg/m3 E2 = 9.9 GPa b = 4H
E3 = 9.9 GPa
G12 = 7.1 GPa
3.5. Solving the frequency–amplitude equation
t23 = 0.49
t12 = 0.35
The nonlinear Eq. (41) can be rewritten in a simple form, and g1 = 5.7  103
solved when Q is not equal to zero. This Q is assumed to be real g2 = 8.5  103
number. The complex numbers A, M, K and Knl can be rewritten g6 = 13.2  103
qc = 1566 kg/m3
as:
1152 H. Youzera et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154

(a) 1.10 20

18

1.08 16
θ =90
0
Timoshenko
Reddy 14 θ =45
0

1.06 Touratier
ηnl / η l

θ =0
0
Afaq 12

η nl / η l
1.04
10

1.02 8

6
1.00
0 1 2 3 4

a/H t 2

(b) 1.8 0 1 2 3
a/Ht
1.7

1.6 Fig. 3. Loss factor ratio gnl/gl as a function of the vibration amplitude (a/Ht) for
various values of h with Touratier model; b = 1; Hf/Hc = 7; L/Ht = 100.
1.5
ηnl / η l

1.4 Timoshenko
Reddy
1.3
Touratier
1.2
Afaq

1.1 7

1.0
6
0 1 2 3
a/H t
5 L/Ht=200
L/Ht=100
(c) 1.8
4 L/Ht=50
η nl / η l

1.7
3
1.6

1.5 2
ηnl / η l

1.4
1
1.3 Timoshenko
Reddy 0
1.2 Touratier 0 1 2 3
Afaq a/Ht
1.1

1.0 Fig. 4. Loss factor gnl/gl as a function of the vibration amplitude (a/Ht) for various
0 1 2 3 values of L/Ht with Touratier model; b = 1; Hf/Hc = 7; L/Ht = 100 and h = 90°.
a/H t

Fig. 2. Loss factor ratio gnl/gl as a function of the amplitude (a/H) for difference
models with h = 90° and L/H = 100. (a) Hf/Hc = 1/7; (b) Hf/Hc = 1 and (c) Hf/Hc = 7.

(a/H) is more strong at small amplitudes (a/H) 2 [0; 2] and remain 1.8
1.7
unchanged at large amplitudes. 1.6
The influences of the geometrical parameter L/H on gnl/gl , are 1.5
addressed in Fig. 4. From this figure, one can note that an impor- 1.4
1.3 n=1
tant reduction of gnl/gl is observed with respect to the amplitudes n=2
1.2
(a/H) for short beams (L/H = 10 and 50). In the case of slender 1.1 n=3
η nl / η l

beams with (L/H = 200), a great increasing of gnl/gl is observed at 1.0

small amplitudes (a/H) 2 [0; 2]. For the values of a/H = 2 and great- 0.9
0.8
er, the ratio gnl/gl remains approximately constant. Fig. 5 shows the
0.7
affect on the loss factor ratio of the first three vibration modes. As 0.6
can be observed, the ratio gnl/gl due to the second and third (n = 2 0.5
and 3) modes of vibrations, initially decreases with a/H and 0.4
0.3
increases for the first mode of vibration (n = 1). 0.2
Nonlinear forced vibration analysis is carried out in this study to
0 1 2 3
analyse the hardening changes of laminated composite beams. As
a/Ht
seen from Figs. 6 and 7, the geometric parameters Hf/Hc and L/H
have strong effects on the nonlinear behaviour. In theses figures, Fig. 5. Loss factor gnl/gl as a function of the vibration amplitude (a/Ht) for various
some more pronounced hardening effects are obtained with thin modes of vibrations (n = 1–3) with Touratier model; b = 1; Hf/Hc = 7; L/Ht = 100 and
cores (Hf/Hc = 7) and for slender beams (L/H = 200). Fig. 8 shows h = 90 and; L/Ht = 100.
 H. Youzera et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 1147–1154 1153

4 that a softer effect can be achieved by using a soft core, in which,

the fibre orientation angle h is of 90°.

3 5. Conclusion

Nonlinear forced vibration analysis of laminated composite

beams was investigated. Higher order zig-zag theories were used
a/H

2
H f /Hc =1/7 for the displacement field. Based on the harmonic balance method
H f /Hc =1 and Galerkin procedure, a scalar complex nonlinear amplitude–fre-
quency relationship was established and a closed form analytical
1 H f /Hc =7
solution for this problem was determined.
Parametric studies indicated that the geometrical parameters
Hf/Hc and L/H have strong effects on the loss factor ratio gnl/gl
0 and the hardening changes for forced vibration analysis. The mate-
0 1 2 3 4 5 rial properties of the reinforced fibre composite core have also a
ωnl / Ω l great influence on the loss ratio gnl/gl and the hardening changes.
Therefore, the soft core with a fibre angle orientation of 90° is more
Fig. 6. Forced linear frequency amplitude response for various values of Hf/Hc with suitable for passive vibration control of laminated composite
Touratier model; h = 90°; L/Ht = 50; Ht = 0.01. b = 4Ht and Q = 1000.
beams, especially in the case of large amplitude excitations. This
research provides a good foundation fore future investigations
and contributes to the understanding of nonlinear damping prop-
erties of other type of structures under dynamic loads.
L/H t =50
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