ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 47 (2005) 1740–1755

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmecsci

Vibration analysis of cross-ply laminated beams with

general boundary conditions by Ritz method
Metin Aydogdu
Trakya Universitesi, MMF, Makine Muhendisligi Bolumu, 22030 Edirne, Turkey
Received 15 November 2004; received in revised form 5 May 2005; accepted 12 June 2005
Available online 25 July 2005

Abstract

The present study is concerned with the vibration analysis of cross-ply laminated beams subjected to
different sets of boundary conditions. The analysis is based on a three-degree-of-freedom shear deformable
beam theory. The continuity conditions between layers of symmetric cross-ply laminated beams are
satisfied by the use of the shape function incorporated into the theory which also unifies the 1D shear
deformable beam theories developed previously. The governing equations are obtained by means of
Hamilton’s principle. Six different combinations of free, clamped and simply supported edge boundary
conditions are considered. The free vibration frequencies are obtained by applying the Ritz method where
the three displacement components are expressed in a series of simple algebraic polynomials. The numerical
results obtained for different length-to-thickness ratios and lay-ups are presented and compared with
results available in the literature.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cross-ply beams; Vibration; Ritz method; General boundary conditions

1. Introduction

Structural components made with composite materials, e.g. beams, plates and shells, are used in
many engineering applications because of their high stiffness to weight ratios and high modulus to
weight ratios. Understanding their true dynamic and static behaviour is of increasing importance.
Fax: +90 284 2126067.
E-mail address: metina@trakya.edu.tr.

0020-7403/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2005.06.010
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Nomenclature

L, b beam dimensions in the x, y directions

E1, E2 principal elastic moduli for a composite layer
G12, G13, G23 in-plane and through-thickness shear moduli for a composite layer
u12 ,u13 Poisson’s ratios
h beam thickness
sðkÞ ðkÞ
x xz stress components of the kth layer in Cartesian coordinates
t
U, V, W displacements in x-, y-, and z-directions, respectively
u, v, w displacement components at the the midplane in the x, y and z directions, respectively
u1 unknown functions of the effect of transverse shear strains on the plate middle surface
Qij (i; j ¼ 1; 2; 6) reduced stiffnesses
x ; gxz direct and shear strain components, respectively
x, y, z Cartesian coordinates
t time
N cx ; M cx force and moment resultants of classical beam theory, respectively
Qax ; M ax force and moment resultants of shear deformable beam theory, respectively
Ac11 ; Bc11 ; Dc11 extensional, coupling and bending stiffness in CBT
a
Ba11 ; Da11 ; Daa 11 ; A55 stiffness due to shear deformations
ri ; rjm ði ¼ 0; 1; 2; j ¼ 0; 1; l; m ¼ 1; 2Þ inertias
r mass per unit volume
o circular frequency
[K] stiffness matrix
[M] mass matrix
{D} h column
 vector 1=2ofi undetermined coefficients
l ¼ oL2 h r=E 2 non-dimensional frequency parameter
T kinetic energy
Us strain energy

Although the classification of studies made in the composites research area is difficult, the
following classification groups are proposed: (i) use of theory in analyses, (ii) solution method of
governing equations and (iii) boundary conditions of composite structures. The classical plate
theory (CPT) of Navier, in which straight lines before deformation remain straight and normal to
the reference surface, is the first explanation of deformation in the literature [1,2]. Compared with
composite plates and shells, studies for composite beams are much less comprehensive [3,4]. Since
CPT underestimates the deflection and overestimates the vibration frequency and critical buckling
loads of structures, first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) has been proposed by Yang et al.
[5] for composite plates to overcome this drawback. In FSDT, straight lines before deformation
remain straight but not normal to the reference surface after deformation of the structure. As a
result, zero traction boundary conditions are not satisfied by this theory. To overcome this
drawback, shear correction factors were proposed. Since this factor is problem dependent, new
theories were needed. Some higher-order shear deformation theories (HSDT) were developed by
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1742 M. Aydogdu / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 47 (2005) 1740–1755

Reddy [6], Soldatos [7] and Karama et al. [8] in which there is no need to use shear correction
factors. FSDT and HSDT have often been used to study the vibration of composite beams [9–33].
Generalisation of these theories is made by Soldatos and Timarci [34]. This new theory called the
unified shear deformation theory (USDT) has been applied to the vibration of composite
cylindrical shells by Timarci and Soldatos [35], to the vibration of composite plates by Messina
and Soldatos [36,37], and by Aydogdu and Timarci [38]. Solution procedures for composite beam
vibration problems depend on the boundary conditions of the beams. The Navier-type solution
method can be used for simply supported boundary conditions [19,24,29,31]. For combinations of
simple support, clamped and free boundary conditions, some analytical [9–13,15–17,21–23,26]
and finite element [14,18,20,25,28,32] solution procedures have been used. Although the Ritz
method has been used by several researchers to analyse the vibration response of composite plates
[36–43], it has not been used to analyse composite beam vibration problems to the best of author’s
knowledge. Moreover, simply supported-free and free–free boundary conditions have been rarely
studied.
In this study, the vibration of cross-ply composite beams are investigated for six different
boundary conditions by using the Ritz method. Algebraic polynomial trial functions are used in
the analyses. Transverse stress continuity conditions are satisfied for symmetric cross-ply beams.
Some convergence studies are given as examples and comparisons with results available in the
literature are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the method. Results are also given for
three-layer symmetric cross-ply (01/901/01) and two-layer antisymmetric cross-ply (01/901)
composite beams for various material properties and length-to-thickness ratios.

2. Analysis

Consider a straight uniform composite beam of constant thickness of h with cross-section

dimensions L and b, as shown in Fig. 1. The beam is assumed to be constructed of linearly elastic
orthotropic layers. Therefore, the state of stress in the kth layer is given by the generalised
Hooke’s law as follows:
ðkÞ ðkÞ
sðkÞ
x ¼ Q11 x ; tðkÞ
xz ¼ Q55 gxz , (1)
where QðkÞ
ij are well-known reduced stiffnesses ([44]) and k is the layer number.
Assuming that the deformations of the beam are in the x–z plane and denoting the displacement
components along the x, y and z directions by U, V and W, respectively, the following

y
h

b L

Fig. 1. Geometry of composite beam and coordinate system.

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displacement field for the beam is assumed on the basis of the general shear deformable shell
theory presented by Soldatos and Timarci [34], Timarci and Soldatos [35]:
Uðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ uðx; y; tÞ  zw;x þ FðzÞu1 ðx; y; tÞ,
V ðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ 0,
W ðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ wðx; y; tÞ. ð2Þ
Here, u and w represent middle surface displacement components along the x and z directions,
respectively, while u1 is an unknown function that represents the effect of transverse shear strain
on the beam middle surface, and F represents the shape function determining the distribution of
the transverse shear strain and stress through the thickness. Classical beam theory is obtained as a
particular case by taking the shape function as zero. Although different shape functions are
applicable, only the ones which convert the present theory to the corresponding parabolic shear
deformation beam theory (PSDBT), hyperbolic shear deformation beam theory (HSDBT), first-
order shear deformation beam theory (FSDBT) and exponential shear deformation beam theory
(ESDBT) are employed in the present study. This is achieved by choosing the shape functions as
follows:
FSDBT : FðzÞ ¼ z,
PSDBT : FðzÞ ¼ zð1  4z2 =3h2 Þ,
HSDBT : FðzÞ ¼ h sinhðz=hÞ  z coshð1=2Þ,
ESDBT : FðzÞ ¼ z exp½2ðz=hÞ2 . ð3Þ
The displacement model (2) yields the following kinematic relations:
x ¼ u;x  zw;xx þ FðzÞu1;x ,
gxz ¼ F0 u1 , ð4Þ
where a prime denotes the derivative with respect to z and ‘‘,x’’ represents the partial derivative
with respect to x. By substituting the stress–strain relations into the definitions of the force and
moment resultants of the theory given in Soldatos and Timarci [34] and using the notation given
by Soldatos and Sophocleous [27], the following constitutive equations are obtained:
2 c3 2 c 32 3
Nx A11 Bc11 Ba11 u;x
6 M c 7 6 Bc Dc Da 76 w 7
4 x 5 ¼ 4 11 11 11 54 ;xx 5, (5a)
M ax Ba11 Da11 Daa11 u 1;x

Qax ¼ Aa55 u1 . (5b)

The extensional, coupling and bending rigidities appering in Eq. (5a) are, respectively, defined
as follows:
Z h=2 Z h=2
ðkÞ
c
A11 ¼ c a
Q11 dz; ðB11 ; B11 Þ ¼ QðkÞ
11 ½z; fðzÞ dz;
h=2 h=2
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1744 M. Aydogdu / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 47 (2005) 1740–1755

Z h=2
ðDc11 ; Da11 ; Daa
11 Þ ¼ QðkÞ 2 2
11 ½z ; zfðzÞ; f ðzÞ dz: ð6Þ
h=2

Moreover, the transverse shear rigidity appearing in Eq. (5b) is defined according to
Z h=2
Aa55 ¼ QðkÞ 0 2
55 ½f ðzÞ dz: (7)
h=2

It should be pointed out that the extensional Ac11 , coupling Bc11 and bending Dc11 rigidities are
the ones usually appearing even in the classical beam theories. Among the additional rigidities in
Eq. (5a), the one denoted as Ba11 is considered as additional coupling rigidity while the ones
denoted as Da11 and Daa
11 are considered as additional bending rigidities.
Upon employing the Hamilton’s principle, the five variationally consistent equilibrium
equations of the plate are obtained as

N cx;x ¼ ðr0 u þ r01 u1  r1 w;x Þ;tt ,

M cx;xx ¼ ðr1 u;x þ r11 u1;x þ r0 w  r2 w;xx Þ;tt ,
M ax;x  Qax ¼ ðr01 u þ r02 u1  r11 w;x Þ;tt , ð8Þ

Here ,tt denotes time derivatives and the r’s are defined as
Z h=2
ri ¼ rzi dz; ði ¼ 0; 1; 2Þ,
h=2
Z h=2
rjm ¼ rzj Fm
j dz; ðj ¼ 0; 1; m ¼ 1; 2Þ ð9Þ
h=2

and the force and moment components

Z h=2
ðN cx ; M cx Þ ¼ sx ð1; zÞ dz, (10a)
h=2

Z h=2
Qax ¼ txz f0 ðzÞ dz, (10b)
h=2

Z h=2
M ax ¼ sx fðzÞ dz. (10c)
h=2

Here, the appearance of the higher-order moment (10c) and transverse shear force
resultant (10b) is due to the particular form of the displacement field (2). In particular, the
superscript a in the definitions (10b)–(10c) is used only for a distinction between higher order
transverse shear resultants and the corresponding conventional ones used in classical beam
theory.
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Moreover, the following sets of boundary conditions at the edges of the beam are obtained by
the application of Hamilton’s principle:
at x ¼ 0; L
either u or N cx ¼ N̄ x prescribed,
either w or M cx;x ¼ Q̄x prescribed,
either w; x or M cx ¼ M̄ x prescribed;
a
either u1 or M ax ¼ M̄ x prescribed: ð11Þ
Here, the overbarred quantities appearing in the right sides of natural boundary conditions denote
prescribed force and moment resultants acting on the beam boundaries.

2.1. Continuity conditions for symmetric cross-ply beam

By adopting the formulation, presented by Timarci and Soldatos [35] for a symmetric cross-ply
shell and modifying it for a beam, the new form of shape function is obtained. Consider a cross-
ply laminated beam composed of an odd number of linearly elastic layers (say 2N þ 1) perfectly
bonded together and arranged in the form of a symmetric lay-up. Denote with a superscript 0 all
quantities referring to the middle-layer and denote next zk the material interface coordinate
between (k1)th and kth layers (see Fig. 2). Consider the kth layer as an independent beam
(k ¼ 0; 1; . . . ; N). Displacement components of kth layer can be written in the following
form:
U ðkÞ ¼ uðkÞ  zw;x þ fðkÞ ðzÞuðkÞ
1 ,
W ðkÞ ¼ wðkÞ ¼ w, ð12Þ
where, u(k) and uðkÞ
1 are functions of x and t only.
In accordance with Eq. (2) and their relevant kinematic relations (4), Eq. (12) yield the
following transverse shear stress in the kth layer,
ðkÞ 0 ðkÞ
tðkÞ
xz ¼ Q55 f uðkÞ
1 , (13)

z
y

Nth layer
kth layer
(k-1)th layer
1th layer x
0th layer
(-1)th layer Middle Surface
-(k-1)th layer
-(k)th layer
-(N)th layer

Fig. 2. The geometry and notations used for a symmetric lay-up.

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where a prime denotes differentiation with respect to z. The requirement of continuity of this
interlaminar stress at zk yields
uðkÞ ð0Þ
1 ¼ Ak u 1 , (14)
where
1Þ ðk 1Þ
Qðk
55 f0 ðzk Þ
Ak ¼ 0 ðkÞ
Ak 1 ; A0 ¼ 1, (15)
QðkÞ
55 f ðzk Þ
and the upper or lower sign on the right side is associated with negative or positive values of k,
respectively. Inserting this expresion into Eq. (12) and keeping continuity of displacement at zk
yields
uðkÞ ¼ uð0Þ þ Bk uð0Þ
1 , (16)
where
Bk ¼ Bk 1 þ jðzk ÞðAk 1  Ak Þ; B0 ¼ 0. (17)
As a result of these definitions, the middle surface displacement componenets of all layers have
been expressed in terms of corresponding components of the 0th layer.
Inserting Eqs. (14) and (16) into Eq. (12), one obtains
U ðkÞ ðx; z; tÞ ¼ uð0Þ  zw;x þ ½Ak fðkÞ ðzÞ þ Bk uð0Þ
1 ,
W ðkÞ ðx; z; tÞ ¼ w. ð18Þ
Hence, a displacement approximation of the form (18) yields continuous displacement and
transverse shear stress throughout the laminated beam thickness, regardless of any a posteriori
specified shape function, fðkÞ ðzÞ.
A comparison of Eq. (18) with the displacement approximations (2) yields
FðzÞ ¼ Ak jðzÞ þ Bk , (19)
which relate the refined displacement approximations with the unified beam theory presented in
the preceding section. Upon inserting this form of F and its derivatives in definitions (6) and (7),
the constitutive Eqs. (5a) and (b) and, therefore, the three differential equations of motion (8) can
be expressed in terms of a same number of main unknown functions, uð0Þ , uð0Þ 1 and w, and their
derivatives with respect to the the spatial coordinates and time. Details of this manipulation can
be found in Aydogdu and Timarci [38].

2.2. The Ritz solution of the vibration problem of cross-ply beams with various boundary conditions

The Ritz method [45] which is a variational approach and requires the expansion of the
unknown functions of displacement components in infinite series. By taking a sufficient number of
terms in the series, it is possible to approach the exact solution of the problem considered.
However, the displacement functions should be complete in the function space and inappropriate
choices of the unknown functions may cause very slow convergence rates and numerical
instabilities. Trigonometric functions [39], algebraic polynomials [40], and orthogonal poly-
nomials [37,38,41,42] have been employed on the basis of different plate theories. It is interesting
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to note that this powerful technique has seldom been used by researchers to study the free
vibration problem of cross-ply beams.
In this study, after defining non-dimensional coordinate as x ¼ x=L the following simple
algebraic polynomials are used:
X
I
uðx; tÞ ¼ Ai X i ðxÞ sin ot,
i¼i0
X
P
u1 ðx; tÞ ¼ Dp X p ðxÞ sin ot,
p¼p0

X
M
wðx; tÞ ¼ C m X m ðxÞ sin ot, ð20Þ
m¼m0

where the polynomial is defined as

X f ¼ xf ðx  1ÞB ; f ¼ i; p; m (21)
and Ai, Dp and Cm are unknown undetermined coefficients. Here, B takes values which are chosen
according to the type of boundary conditions imposed at the edges of the beam. The values of
B ¼ 0; 1; 2 correspond to the free, simply supported and clamped edge conditions, respectively
[43]. Since the displacement components used in the Ritz method should satisfy at least the
geometric boundary conditions, the edge boundary conditions considered in this study, which are
the kinematic parts of the related boundary conditions given by Eq. (11), are tabulated in Table 1.
Six different boundary conditions are considered in this study namely: FF, SS, CC, CS, CF and

Table 1
Kinematic conditions corresponding to the beam end conditions

Boundary condition type At x ¼ 0; 1

Simply supported (S) ua0, u1 a0, w ¼ 0

Clamped (C) u ¼ 0, u1 ¼ 0, w ¼ w;x ¼ 0
Free (F) ua0, u1 a0, wa0 (no constraints)

Table 2
Displacement field indices for different boundary conditions

Boundary conditions i0 p0 m0

FF 0 0 0
SS 0 0 1
CC 1 1 2
CF 1 1 2
SF 0 0 1
SC 0 0 1
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SF. Here, the first and second letter denote the boundary conditions at x ¼ 0 and x ¼ 1,
respectively. The kinematic boundary conditions given in Table 1 can be satisfied by careful
selection of starting indices of the series in Eq. (20). These indices are given in Table 2 for the
boundary conditions considered. Free boundary conditions are approximately satisfied by means
of Ritz method.
Application of Ritz method requires kinetic energy and strain potential energy functions of a
cross-ply composite beam to be formulated. The strain energy of a cross-ply composite beam can
be written in terms of middle surface displacement as follows:
Z bZ L
1
U s max ¼ 2 fAc11 u2;x  2Bc11 w;xx u;x þ 2Ba11 u1;x u;x þ Dc11 w2;xx
0 0
a a 2
 2D11 u1;x w;xx þ Daa 2
11 u1;x þ A55 u1 g dx dy ð22Þ
and kinetic energy of a cross-ply beam can be written in the following form:
Z
T max ¼ 21
ro2 ðu2  2zuw;x þ 2ufu1 þ z2 w2;x  2zfu1 w;x þ f2 u21 þ w2 Þ dV. (23)
V

Upon inserting the displacements and their derivatives from Eq. (20) into the strain and kinetic
energy expressions given in Eqs. (22) and (23) and minimising the functional (UsmaxTmax) with
respect to the coefficients of the displacement functions yields a set of simultaneous algebraic
equations in terms of the unknown coefficients given by Eq. (20). The upper limits of series in Eq.
(20) are chosen to be equal, i.e. I ¼ P ¼ M so that 3P2 equations are obtained. These equations in
the form of a generalised eigenvalue problem are given below:
f½K  l2 ½MgfDg ¼ 0, (24)
where K and M are stiffness and inertia matrices, respectively, and D is the column vector of
unknown coefficients of Eq. (20). The eigenvalues (l) for which the determinant of coefficient
matrix of Eq. (24) is zero, leads to the free vibration frequencies.

3. Numerical results

In the present study, the material properties were chosen as follows:

E 1 =E 2 ¼ open; G12 ¼ G 13 ¼ 0:6E 2 ; G 23 ¼ 0:5E 2 ; u12 ¼ 0:25
and the dimensionless frequency l is given by
l ¼ ðoL2 =hÞðr=E 2 Þ1=2 . (25)
In the formulation presented, direct use of the forms of the shape functions given in Eq. (3) for
the PSDBT, FSDBT, ESDBT and HSDBT violates the continuity of interlaminar stress through
the thickness of the beam. However, the choices of shape function in accordance with the
formulation given in Section 2, satisfy the continuity conditions through the thickness of the beam
for symmetric cross-ply lay-ups. In the numerical results presented, the theories denoted with
indices ‘ds’ correspond to discontinuous interlaminar stresses and those with indices ‘cs’ to
continuous interlaminar stresses.
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Table 3
Fundamental frequency convergence study for antisymmetric two-layer (01/901) cross-ply beams with various boundary
conditions (L=h ¼ 5, E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40)

P FF CC SF CS SS CF

4 14.563 10.109 9.279 8.133 6.144 2.388

5 13.091 10.106 9.234 8.091 6.144 2.385
6 13.049 10.105 9.222 8.076 6.144 2.384
7 13.000 10.102 9.222 8.067 6.144 2.384
8 13.000 10.102 9.221 8.057 6.144 2.384
Ref. [16] — 10.026 — 8.033 6.128 2.386
% Diff. 0.758 0.298 0.261 0.083

Table 4
Fundamental frequency convergence study for symmetric three-layer (01/901/01) cross-ply beams with various boundary
conditions (L=h ¼ 5, E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40)

P FF CC SF CS SS CF

4 22.652 11.646 13.629 10.328 9.208 4.254

5 19.660 11.637 13.557 10.273 9.208 4.237
6 19.639 11.637 13.539 10.257 9.207 4.234
7 19.391 11.637 13.538 10.247 9.207 4.234
8 19.391 11.637 13.538 10.236 9.207 4.234
Ref. [16] — 11.603 — 10.239 9.208 4.234
% Diff. 0.293 0.029 0.010 0.000

Table 5
p
Comparison of frequencies ½l ¼ oL2 ðr=E 1 h2 Þ of (01/901/901/01) cross-ply beams with previous results (L=h ¼ 15)

Theory FF CC SF CS SS CF

PSDBTds 5.5543 4.6531 3.8569 3.5474 2.5015 0.9251

ESDBTds 5.5595 4.6685 3.8605 3.5543 2.5036 0.9255
Ref. [11] 3.8576 4.5940 5.5540 3.5254 2.5023 0.9241
Ref. [30] — 4.7120 — — — 0.9149

Convergence studies carried out for the fundamental frequency l of symmetric and
antisymmetric cross-ply plates with E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40 and a=h ¼ 5 within PSDBTds are tabulated in
Tables 3 and 4. Except for the CS boundary condition it is evident that the frequencies obtained
with 7 and 8 terms are identical. Consequently, all of the other results presented have been
calculated using P ¼ 8. In these Tables the present frequencies are compared with the results
of Khdeir and Reddy [16] and good agreement is observed. The percentage differences,
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1750 M. Aydogdu / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 47 (2005) 1740–1755

given in the tables, between present results and results of Ref. [16] are calculated according to the
following equation:
lpresent  lRef: ½16
Diff:% ¼  100. (26)
lRef: ½16

Another comparison with results from the literature is presented for four-layer symmetric cross-
ply (01/901/901/01) beams in Table 5. The following AS/3501-6 graphite-epoxy material properties
were used: E 1 ¼ 144:80 GPa, E 2 ¼ 9:65 GPa, G 23 ¼ 3:45 GPa, G 12 ¼ G 13 ¼ 4:14 GPa, n12 ¼ 0:3.
According to the author’s knowledge, the FF and SF boundary conditions have only been studied
by Chandrashekhara et al. [11] and in their work the frequencies given for these boundary
conditions are either interchanged or misprinted. In the same table the 3D frequency results of
Chen et al. [30] are also given. Again good agreement is observed.
After verifying the accuracy and convergence of the Ritz analysis, the fundamental frequencies
of thick (L=h ¼ 5) and moderately thick (L=h ¼ 20) symmetric cross-ply (01/901/01) beams with
E 1 =E 2 ratio of 40 were computed and are presented in Tables 6 and 7. It is observed in all cases

Table 6
Fundamental frequencies l for three-layer (01/901/01) symmetric cross-ply beams calculated with different theories
(E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40, L=h ¼ 5)

Theory FF CC SF CS SS CF

PSDBTds 19.391 11.637 13.538 10.236 9.207 4.233

PSDBTcs 18.976 11.446 13.206 10.032 8.968 4.158
ESDBTds 19.615 11.970 13.647 10.422 9.253 4.262
ESDBTcs 19.224 11.783 13.340 10.222 9.033 4.192
FSDBTds 20.303 11.862 14.356 10.520 9.816 4.394
FSDBTcs 19.591 11.457 13.804 10.268 9.436 4.279
HSDBTds 19.401 11.625 13.538 10.229 9.207 4.232
HSDBTcs 18.955 11.427 13.195 10.021 8.964 4.157

Table 7
Fundamental frequencies l for three-layer (01/901/01) symmetric cross-ply beams calculated with different theories
(E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40, L=h ¼ 20)

Theory FF CC SF CS SS CF

PSDBTds 36.285 29.926 25.180 22.907 16.337 6.070

PSDBTcs 36.024 29.407 25.005 22.637 16.237 6.052
ESDBTds 36.297 29.970 25.185 22.926 16.339 6.071
ESDBTcs 36.057 29.493 25.023 22.677 16.247 6.055
FSDBTds 36.883 31.178 25.581 23.583 16.568 6.112
FSDBTcs 36.546 30.446 25.358 23.213 16.441 6.089
HSDBTds 36.286 29.926 25.181 22.907 16.338 6.071
HSDBTcs 36.023 29.405 25.005 22.636 16.237 6.052
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Table 8
Fundamental frequencies l for two-layer (01/901) antisymmetric cross-ply beams calculated with different theories
(E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40, L=h ¼ 5)

Theory FF CC SF CS SS CF

PSDBTds 13.000 10.103 9.221 8.068 6.144 2.384

ESDBTds 13.122 10.383 9.308 8.223 6.196 2.396
FSDBTds 12.897 9.850 9.178 7.950 6.128 2.378
HSDBTds 12.849 10.059 9.162 8.037 6.124 2.383

Table 9
Fundamental frequencies l for two-layer (01/901) antisymmetric cross-ply beams calculated with different theories
(E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40, L=h ¼ 20)

Theory FF CC SF CS SS CF

PSDBTds 16.213 15.688 11.226 11.060 7.218 2.590

ESDBTds 16.227 15.737 11.235 11.080 7.223 2.591
FSDBTds 16.211 15.682 11.225 11.058 7.218 2.590
HSDBTds 16.210 15.685 11.224 11.059 7.218 2.590

that the results obtained using continuous theories are lower than those obtained with the
corresponding discontinuous theory. Another observation is that the frequencies of the beams
with FF boundary conditions always have the highest frequencies and beams with CF conditions
have the lowest frequencies for same length-to-thickness ratios. The frequencies determined with
different shear deformation theories are close to each other for CF case and apart from each other
for FF boundary conditions. The differences between the frequencies predicted with the different
theories increase with decreasing L/h ratio. In all of the above cases, the highest frequencies are
predicted with FSDBTds, and it is not easy to identify trends in the predictions of the other
theories.
In Tables 8 and 9 the frequencies l are given for antisymetric two-layer (01/901) cross-ply thick
(L=h ¼ 5) and moderately thick (L=h ¼ 20) composite beams with E 1 =E 2 ¼ 40 ratio. ESDBTds
predicts the highest frequencies and the frequencies predicted by the different theories are almost
identical for the CF boundary condition.
In Figs. 3 and 4 the variations of fundamental frequencies with the E 1 =E 2 ratio for different
boundary conditions are given for ESDBTds theory for two-layer antisymmetric (01/901) and
three-layer symmetric (01/901/01 ) cross-ply beams, respectively. These results were calculated
keeping G 12 =E 2 ¼ G 13 =E 2 ¼ 0:6; G 23 =E 2 ¼ 0:5, a=h ¼ 5 and u12 ¼ 0:25 constant. These figures
show that the frequency l increases for all boundary conditions as the degree of orthotropy
increases. The frequency of the FF beams show the greatest rate of increase with increasing E 1 =E 2
ratio when compared to the other boundary conditions. It is interesting to note that frequency of
three-layer symmetric cross-ply beams for the SF and CC boundary conditions converge with
decreasing orthotrophy ratio.
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1752 M. Aydogdu / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 47 (2005) 1740–1755

16

(0°/ 90°)
12 FF

CC
Frequency λ
SF
SC
8
SS

4
CF

0
10 20 30 40
E1/ E2

Fig. 3. Variation of the frequency l with the E 1 =E 2 ratio for antisymmetric two-layer cross-ply beams (L=h ¼ 5).

20
FF

16

SF
12 CC
Frequency λ

SC
SS
8

(0°/ 90°/ 0°) CF

4

0
10 20 30 40
E1/ E2

Fig. 4. Variation of the frequency l with E 1 =E 2 ratio for symmetric three-layer cross-ply beams (L=h ¼ 5).

4. Conclusions

The present study deals with the vibration analysis of cross-ply laminated composite beams
subjected to different boundary conditions on the basis of a unified three-degree-of-freedom shear
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M. Aydogdu / International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 47 (2005) 1740–1755 1753

deformable beam theory. With the present formulation of this theory, the previous 1D beam
theories (classical, first or third order, exponential and hyperbolic theories), are included as special
cases, as confirmed by numerical results presented. Moreover, with the particular shape functions
used in this theory it is possible to fulfil both stress and deformation constraints, e.g. continuity
conditions between layers and stress-free conditions at the top and bottom surfaces of the beam.
For the free vibration analysis of cross-ply laminated beams subjected to six types of boundary
conditions, for various lengths to thickness ratios and material arrangements the Ritz method was
employed within the same unified shear deformable theory. In applying the Ritz method, the three
displacement components are assumed as series expansions of simple algebraic polynomials. This
approach yields reliable results even when a few terms in the series are used. Finally, the effects of
degree of orthotropy on the frequencies of cross-ply beams with various lengths to thickness ratios
are presented in graphical format. This approach could also be used to study the buckling
problem of composite beams.

Acknowledgments

The constructive comments of reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.

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