Modal Analysis of Woven Fiber Composite Plates with Different Boundary Conditions

Most of the work done for the vibration of composite plates published in the literature is either analytical or numerical studies with few experimental results available on composites with unidirectional fibers. The present study involves extensive experimental works to investigate the free vibration of industry driven woven fiber glass/epoxy composite plates with different boundary conditions including free–free cases. The modern modal testing and subsequent analysis with powerful computer and digital analysis system is an important tool for prediction of behavior of structures. The specimens of woven glass fiber and epoxy matrix composite plates are manufactured by the hand-layup technique. Elastic parameters of the plate are also determined experimentally by tensile testing of specimens using INSTRON 1195. An experimental investigation is carried out using modal analysis technique with Fast Fourier Transform Analyzer, PULSE lab shop, impact hammer and contact accelerometer to obtain the frequency response functions. The computational results are compared with results of previous studies in literature wherever available. The experimental results are also compared with the FEM numerical analysis based on first_order shear deformation theory. The effects of different geometrical parameters including number of layers, aspect ratio, fiber orientation and different boundary conditions of woven fiber composite plates are studied in detail. It is observed that comparisons performed between numerical predictions and experimental tests have a good correlation. The natural frequency is very less for cantilever than simply supported and fully clamped boundary conditions. The prediction of dynamic behavior of laminated composite plates plays a significant role in the future applications of structural composites.