Experimental and numerical analysis of vibration frequency in sandwich composites with different radii of curvature

Abstract

In this study, free vibration responses of sandwich composite panels with different radius of curvature were presented numerically. The studies were carried out on square flat and curved sandwich panels made of E-glass/epoxy face sheets and polyvinyl chloride foam with three different radii of curvature. Experimental studies were used to verify the numerical results. Vibration tests were performed on flat and curved sandwich panels under free–free boundary conditions. The experimental data were then compared with finite element simulation, which was conducted by ANSYS finite element software and it was shown that the numerical analysis results agree well with the experimental ones. Effect of the curvature on natural frequencies under different boundary conditions (all edge free, simply supported, and fully clamped) was investigated numerically. Results indicated that the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes were affected by boundary conditions and curvature of the panel. For all boundary conditions, the variation of curvature had smaller effect on the natural frequency of the first mode than those of the other modes.