Free Vibration of Orthotropic Thin Plates with Cantilever and Clamped Boundary Conditions

In this research paper, analytical analysis, experimental work and finite element simulations are combined to analyze the vibration behavior at different delamination sizes and different stacking sequences. The boundary condition in this investigation were all sides clamped and cantilever supported. Rayleigh-Ritz method was used to derive the governing equations to find the natural frequencies and the results were computed using Matlab tool. Experiments have been conducted to study the vibration characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite plate. The results from analytical, experimental and finite element analysis were then compared and studied. It is seen that the natural frequencies of carbon fiber reinforced polymer decreased with an increase in delamination size. Stacking sequence of (0/90/45/90) showed higher values of natural frequencies subjected to all-sided clamped boundary conditions. It was interesting to know that there were small differences in values of natural frequencies for lower modes but the difference gradually increased in case of higher modes.