Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, 9:359

373, 2002
Copyright
C
2002 Taylor & Francis
1537-6494/02 $12.00 + .00
DOI: 10.1080/1537649029009699 1
Free Vibration Analysis of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic
Composite Cantilever I-Beams
PIZHONG QIAO
GUIPING ZOU
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Akron,
Akron, Ohio, USA
ABSTRACT
An analytical study for dynamic behavior of pultruded ber-reinforced plastic
(FRP) composite cantilever I-beams is presented. Based on a Vlasov-type linear hypoth-
esis, dynamic beammass and stiffness coefcients, which account for both cross-section
geometry and material anisotropy of the beam, are obtained. The eigenfrequency prob-
lem is solved by a Ritz energy method, and both exact transcendental and polynomial
shape functions satisfying the boundary conditions of cantilever beams are used to de-
scribe the modal shapes. Good agreement between the proposed analytical method and
nite-element analysis is obtained. The effect of beam span length, ber orientation,
and ber volume fraction on natural frequencies is investigated. The proposed analyti-
cal solution can be used to effectively predict the vibration behavior of FRP cantilever
I-beams.
Pultruded ber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite structural shapes have been used for
civil engineering construction when corrosion resistance is important. Pultruded FRP struc-
tures resemble cold-rolled steel structural shapes and are used as replacements for steel.
The FRP shapes (e.g., beams and columns) are usually thin-walled structures manufactured
by a pultrusion process, and materials used are high-strength E-glass bers embedded in
either vinyl ester or polyester polymer resins [1, 2]. Due to the complexity of composites
and the thin-walled conguration of FRP shapes, consistent theories and pertinent analyti-
cal tools are needed to determine their static and dynamic response. A number of theories
for isotropic thin-walled beams have been developed. Conventional theories of thin-walled
isotropic structures were given by Vlasov [3], Gjelsvik [4], and Murray [5]. A Vlasov-type
theory for composite thin-walled beams with open cross sections was established by Bauld
and Tzeng [6], and the thin-walled beams considered were composed of a number of sym-
metric laminated plates. Based on the assumption that the cross section of the beam does
not deform in its own plane and the laminate has a symmetric layup, Kobelev and Larichev
[7] studied thin-walled beams with close cross sections. Libove [8] established a simple
theory for anisotropic thin-walled beams with a single-cell closed cross section. Manseld
Received 10 September 2001; accepted 26 November 2001.
This study was partially sponsored by the College of Engineering at The University of Akron
and NASA/Ohio Space Grant Consortium. We appreciate the support and encouragement provided
by Dr. S. Graham Kelly, Dean of Engineering at the University of Akron.
Address correspondence to Dr. Pizhong Qiao, Department of Civil Engineering, Auburn
Science and Engineering Center, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-3905. E-mail: Qiao@
uakron.edu
359
360 P. Qiao and G. Zou
and Sobey [9] and Manseld [10] developed theories for one- or two-cell beams of ber
composites. Bauchau et al. [11] conducted a combined theoretical and experimental study
of a thin-walled box beam theory with orthotropic material properties. Chandra and Chopra
[12] presented a theory along with experimental results for laminated composite I-beams
subjected to bending and torsional loads. Including both torsional warping and beam shear
deformation, Wu and Sun [13] developed a simplied theory for composite thin-walled
beams. Zvarick and Cruse [14] used a strength of materials approach to derive a general-
ized beamtheory for statically determinate conditions for open section laminated composite
beams and compared the results with nite-element studies for typical graphite/epoxy lam-
inated composite beams. Badir et al. [15] proposed a variational and asymptotic analysis
of two-dimensional shell theory for thin-walled open-cross-section beams. Based on kine-
matic assumptions consistent with Timoshenko beam theory, Barbero et al. [16] presented
a formal engineering approach for analysis of thin-walled laminated beams under bending,
and the accuracy of the theory was later validated by experimental and nite-element study
[1]. Massa and Barbero [17] used a strength-of-materials approach to formulate a simple
methodology for the analysis of thin-walled composite beams subjected to bending, tor-
sion, shear, and axial forces. Maddur and Chaturvedi [18] proposed a simplied theory for
laminated composite I-sections under nonuniform torsion.
Most of the studies introduced above deal mainly with the general theory and static
response of thin-walled structures, and limited studies have been devoted to the dynamic
behavior of anisotropic thin-walled structures. Combining theory of thin-walled beams
and mechanics of anisotropic composites, Song and Librescu [19] considered the dynamic
problem of laminated composite single-cell thin-walled beams with arbitrary cross section
and incorporated nonuniform torsion. Later, Song et al. [20] employed this method [19]
for dynamic simulation of anisotropic thin-walled beams with blast and harmonically time-
dependent loads. Song et al. [21] further used this theory [19] for the dynamic analysis
of pretwist spinning thin-walled composite beams. Of the research conducted in [19

21],
only the dynamic problems of closed-cross-section composite beams are considered, and
there is little information available in the literature for the dynamic behavior of anisotropic
composite beams with open cross-sectional proles. On the other hand, as smart materials
(e.g., piezoelectric pads and shape memory alloys) are increasingly used in active control
and damping of advanced composite materials and structures, a better understanding of free
vibration behavior of anisotropic thin-walled structures seems more important in facilitating
the design of smart composite structures.
In this study, an analytical study for dynamic behavior of pultruded FRP cantilever
I-section beams is presented, and a simplied formulation based on the Vlasvo-type linear
hypothesis and Ritz energy method is derived. Two types of shape functions, i.e., exact
transcendental function and polynomial function, which satisfy the cantilever boundary
conditions, are studied. Comparison of analytical solutions with numerical results of nite-
element analyses is performed. Parametric studies of beam span length, ber orientation,
and volume fraction on the inuence of natural vibration frequencies are also presented.
1. KINEMATICS
As shown inFigure 1, the lateral beamdisplacements Uand V act at an arbitrary pole P;
whereas the normal and tangential displacements of an arbitrary point (x, y) on the contour
line of a cross section are denoted by u and v. The angle of the tangent to the contour at
the point (x, y) with respect to the x axis of the rectangular Cartesian coordinate system
x; y is dened as q, and the rotation of a cross section at the pole P is signied by w. From
Vibration Analysis of Composite Cantilever Beams 361
Figure 1. Coordinate systems of thin-walled beam.
geometric considerations [4, 6], the displacement transformation can be stated as
u(z; s) D U sinq V cos q qw
(1)
v(z; s) D U cos q C V sinq Cr w
where U, V, and w are functions of the axial coordinate z only; and q, q, and r are functions
of the contour coordinates n, s alone.
The axial displacement component of an arbitrary point on the contour can be obtained
using the denition of the shear strain, c
zs
D w=s C v=z, and from Eq. (1) the fol-
lowing expression is obtained:
w
s
D (U
0
cos q C V
0
sin q Crw
0
) (2)
which, after integration with respect to s, yields
w(z; s) D W U
0
x V
0
y w
0
x (3)
In Eqs. (2) and (3), the differentiations of the pole displacements (U, V ) and rotation (w)
with respect to the axial coordinate z are signied by primes. The function W D W(z) is a
function of integration and is a measure of the axial displacement of a cross section, and x
362 P. Qiao and G. Zou
in Eq. (3) is dened as
x D
Z
C
rds (4)
Note that x and y are the coordinates of a point on the contour C and are, therefore,
functions of the contour coordinate s. All other quantities in Eq. (3), except x(s), are
functions of the axial coordinate z only; x as dened in Eq. (4) is a section property and is
called the sectional area [22].
2. GOVERNING EQUATIONS
Toward the goal of deriving the equations of motion for anisotropic thin-walled struc-
tures, Hamiltons variational principle is used. This variational principle can be stated as
d} D
Z t
1
t
0
fd dKg dt D 0 (5)
where
D
1
2
Z
(NW
0
C M
y
U
00
M
x
V
00
C M
x
w
00
C T
S
w
0
) dz (6)
and
K D
1
2
Z
\
q

<

< d\ (7)
denote the strain energy and kinetic energy, respectively, in which (
0
) denotes differentiation
with respect to z; N is the axial force; M
x
; M
y
are the bending moments acting about the
x and y axes, respectively; M
x
is the warping moment, so called by Timoshenko and
Gere [22], or the biomoment as designated by Vlasov [3]; T
S
is St. Venants torsion or free
warping; q is the mass per unit volume; and < D [u(z; s); v(z; s); w(z; s)]
T
.
The constitutive relation for the anisotropic thin-walled beams can be stated as [6]
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
N
M
x
M
y
M
x
T
S
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
D
2
6
6
6
6
6
4
A 0 0 0 0
0 I
x x
0 0 H
C
0 0 I
yy
0 H
S
0 0 0 I
xx
H
q
0 H
C
H
S
H
q
JG
3
7
7
7
7
7
5
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
W
0
V
00
U
00
w
00
w
0
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
(8)
where
A D
Z
A
11
ds
I
xx
D
Z
( A
11
y
2
C D
11
cos
2
q) ds
I
yy
D
Z
( A
11
x
2
C D
11
sin
2
q) ds
(9)
I
x x
D
Z
( A
11
x
2
C D
11
q
2
) ds
JG D 4
Z
D
33
ds H
s
D 2
Z
D
13
sin q(s) ds
H
C
D 2
Z
D
13
cos q(s) ds H
q
D 2
Z
D
13
q(s) ds
Vibration Analysis of Composite Cantilever Beams 363
in which A
i j
and D
i j
are the extensional and bending stiffness of a laminated panel, respec-
tively, and are expressed as
A
i j
D
N
X
kD1
(

Q
i j
)(z
k
z
k1
)
(10)
D
i j
D
1
3
N
X
kD1
(

Q
i j
)

z
3
k
z
3
k1

where

Q
i j
is known as the transformed reduced elastic constant [23].
Using Gauss integration for the kinetic energy, the following equation can be obtained:
Z t
1
t
0
dKdt D
Z t
1
t
0
Z
\
q

< d<d\
D
Z t
1
t
0
Z
\
f(

U sinq

V cos q q

w)(dU sin q dV cos q qdw)
C(

U cos q C

V sin q Cr

w)(dU cos q C dV sin q Crdw)
C(

W

U
0
x

V
0
y

w
0
x )(dW dU
0
x dV
0
y dw
0
x )g d\ (11)
in which (

) denotes the differentiation with respect to time t .

By substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (6), the expression for the strain energy, , becomes
D
1
2
Z
f A W
02
C I
xx
V
002
C I
yy
U
002
C I
xx
w
002
C JGw
02
C 2H
C
V
00
w
0
2H
s
U
00
w
0
C 2H
q
w
0
w
00
g dz (12)
By substituting Eqs. (11) and (12) into Eq. (5), the differential equilibrium equations
are obtained as
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
A W
00
I
1

W C I
10

U
0
C I
11

V
0
C I
12

w
0
D 0
I
yy
U
00 00
H
s
w
000
C I
1

U C I
2

w C I
3

U
00
I
4

w
00
I
13

V
00
D 0
I
xx
V
00 00
C H
C
w
000
C I
1

V C I
5

w C I
6

V
00
I
13

U
00
I
9

w
00
D 0
I
xx
w
00 00
H
C
V
000
C H
s
U
000
JGw
00
C I
2

U C I
5

V C I
7

w I
12

W
0
I
4

U
00
I
9

V
00
I
8

w
00
D 0
(13)
where
I
1
D
Z
A
q dA I
2
D
Z
A
q(r cos q q sin q) dA
I
3
D
Z
A
qx
2
dA I
4
D
Z
A
qx x dA
I
5
D
Z
A
q(q cos q Cr sin q)x dA I
6
D
Z
A
qy
2
dA
I
7
D
Z
A
q(q
2
Cr
2
) dA I
8
D
Z
A
qx
2
dA (14)
364 P. Qiao and G. Zou
I
9
D
Z
A
qx y dA I
10
D
Z
A
qx dA
I
11
D
Z
A
qy dA I
12
D
Z
A
qx dA
I
13
D
Z
A
qxy dA
3. RIGIDITIES OF FRP I-SECTION BEAM
For a typical I-beam (see Figure 2), the centroid, principal pole, and principal origin
coincide. The contour has ve branches, numbered as in Figure 2, for which the principal
coordinate functions are given in Table 1.
The warping, torsional, and exural stiffness components in Eq. (9) and dynamic
coefcients in Eq. (14) are simplied for I-section beams as follows:
I
xx
D
1
24
A
11 f
h
2
w
b
3
f
C
1
6
D
11 f
b
3
f
C
1
12
D
11w
h
3
w
JG D 8D
33 f
b
f
C4D
33w
h
w
I
x x
D
1
2
A
11 f
b
f
h
2
w
C 2D
11 f
b
f
C
1
12
A
11w
h
3
w
(15)
I
yy
D
1
6
A
11 f
b
3
f
C D
11w
h
w
H
s
D 2D
13w
h
w
; H
C
D 4D
13w
b
f
H
q
D
1
2

D
13 f
b
f
t
2
f
C D
13w
h
w
t
2
w

Figure 2. Typical I-section beam: (a) cross section; (b) contour coordinate system.
Vibration Analysis of Composite Cantilever Beams 365
Table 1
Principal coordinate functions for an I-section beam
Branch Range of s
i
q x y q(s) r(s) x
1 0 b
f
=2 0 s
1
b
f
=2 h
w
=2 s
1
b
f
=2 h
w
=2 (h
w
=2)(b
f
=2 s
1
)
2 0 b
f
=2 p b
f
=2 s
2
h
w
=2 b
f
=2 s
2
h
w
=2 (h
w
=2)(s
2
b
f
=2)
3 h
w
=2 h
w
=2 p=2 0 s
3
s
3
0 0
4 0 b
f
=2 p s
4
h
w
=2 s
4
h
w
=2 (h
w
=2)s
4
5 0 b
f
=2 0 s
5
h
w
=2 s
5
h
w
=2 (h
w
=2)s
5
I
1
D q(2b
f
t
f
Ch
w
t
w
) I
2
D qh
w

b
f
t
f
0:5t
2
w

I
3
D qb
f
t
f

3b
2
f
6b
f
t
f
C8t
2
f

12 I
4
D qh
w

b
3
f
t
f
2b
2
f
t
2
f

8
I
5
D qb
f
t
f
(t
f
b
f
)

2 I
6
D qh
w

3b
f
h
w
t
f
C 2t
3
w

6
(16)
I
7
D q

3b
3
f
t
f
C 6b
f
h
2
w
t
f
6b
2
f
t
2
f
C 8b
f
t
3
f
C 4h
w
t
3
w

12
I
8
D qh
w

3b
3
f
h
w
t
f
C6b
2
f
h
w
t
2
f
8b
2
f
h
w
t
3
f

48
I
9
D I
10
D 0 I
11
D qh
w
t
2
w

2 I
12
D I
13
D 0
For simplicity, the coupling between the bending and exural-torsion vibration is not
considered here, and then the simplied equilibrium formulation can be stated as
8
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
:
A W
00
I
1

W D 0
I
yy
U
00 00
C I
1

U C I
3

U
00
D 0
I
xx
V
00 00
C I
1

V C I
6

V
00
D 0
I
xx
w
00 00
J Gw
00
C I
7

w I
8

w
00
D 0
(17)
4. DISPLACEMENT FIELD OF CANTILEVER I-BEAM
The free vibration displacement elds which satisfy the cantilever beam boundary
conditions can be selected as either the exact transcendental shape functions or polynomial
shape functions. These two types of shape functions are all considered in this study. The
exact transcendental functions are assumed as [24, 25]
8
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
:
U(z; t )
V(z; t )
w(z; t )
W(z; t )
9
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
;
D
8
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
:

W
9
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
;
X
mD1;2;3;:::

sin

k
m
z
L

sinh

k
m
z
L

b
m

cos

k
m
z
L

cosh

k
m
z
L

e
i xt
(18a)
where
b
m
D
sinh(k
m
) Csin(k
m
)
cos(k
m
) Ccosh(k
m
)
(18b)
T
a
b
l
e
2
P
a
n
e
l
s
t
i
f
f
n
e
s
s
c
o
e
f

c
i
e
n
t
s
o
f
W
F
I
-
s
e
c
t
i
o
n
A
1
1
A
6
6
D
1
1
D
1
2
D
2
2
D
1
6
D
2
6
D
6
6
q
S
e
c
t
i
o
n
C
o
m
p
o
n
e
n
t
(
N
/
m
)
(
N
/
m
)
(
N

m
)
(
N

m
)
(
N

m
)
(
N

m
)
(
N

m
)
(
N

m
)
(
k
g
/
m
3
)
W
F
F
l
a
n
g
e
1
.
9
9
5

1
0
8
3
.
0
8
0

1
0
7
5
0
0
1
1
0
2
5
0
7
7
1
2
6
1
,
8
5
0
1
0
.
1
6

1
0
.
1
6

W
e
b
1
.
6
9
7

1
0
8
2
.
7
3
0

1
0
7
4
5
7
1
0
7
2
3
8
7
7
1
2
2
1
,
8
5
0
0
.
6
3
5
c
m
366
Vibration Analysis of Composite Cantilever Beams 367
and k
m
satises the transcendental equation
cos(k
m
) cosh(k
m
) 1 D 0 (18c)
with k
1
D 1:875104; k
2
D 4:694091; k
3
D 7:854757; : : : :
The polynomial deformed modal functions are assumed as [25]
8
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
:
U(z; t )
V(z; t )
w(z; t )
W(z; t )
9
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
;
D
8
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
:

W
9
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
;
X
mD1;2;3;:::
1
(m C 1)(m C2)(m C 3)(m C 4)
G
m

z
L

e
ix t
(19a)
where
G
m

z
L

z
L
mC4

1
6
(m C 1)(m C 3)(m C4)

z
L
3
C
1
2
(m C 1)(m C3)(m C 4)

z
L
2
(19b)
The Rayleigh-Ritz method [26] is employed to solve the eigenvalues of the potential
energy equilibrium equations in Eq. (17).
5. NUMERICAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The example under consideration is a wide-ange I-beam [WF 10.16 10.16
0.635 cm (WF 4 4
1
4
in.)] with a given span length of 3.353 m. The beam is stud-
ied in a cantilever conguration. The panels of pultruded FRP shapes are not made by hand
layup, but they can be simulated as a laminated conguration [1]. The layup of pultruded
panel components consists of two combo-stitched tri-axial (C/45

and 0

) layers and one

unidirectional roving (0

) layer. The laminated panel properties of WF I-beam are predicted

by a micro/macromechanics approach [1] and are given in Table 2.
The commercial nite-element program ANSYS is used to perform an eigenvalue
analysis, and Mindlin eight-node isoparametric layered shell elements (SHELL 99) are em-
ployed in the modeling. The analytical assumed deformation modal shapes for the rst and
second modes in each basic direction (i.e., weak, strong, and exural torsional) are shown in
Figures 3a and 3b, respectively. The nite-element deformed shapes for bending vibration
along weak-axis, strong-axis, and exural torsion vibration are given in Figures 4a, 4b,
and 4c, respectively. Analytical frequencies using the exact transcendental and polynomial
shape functions along with nite-element results at the length of L D 3.353 m are given in
Table 3. The present solutions using exact transcendental functions and polynomial func-
tions show good agreement with the results based on the nite-element method (FEM),
especially for the rst two modes of vibration frequencies (within 1.5%). Almost identical
predictions are obtained between the analytical solutions of exact transcendental functions
and polynomial functions. The discrepancy (about 19.0%) of exural-torsional vibration
frequencies between analytical solutions and the FEMmay attribute to the complexity of the
modal deformed shape (see Figure 4c), the limitation of present analytical shape functions
and formulation, and more degree of freedoms introduced by nite-element analysis.
To investigate the effects of ber angle-ply systems on free vibration behavior, the
C/45

layers in the tri-axial layers of WF I-beam panels are replaced by (C/q) layers
368 P. Qiao and G. Zou
Table 3
Comparison of natural frequencies
Exact transcendental Polynomial
Mode function (HZ) function (HZ) FEM (HZ)
1 4.88 4.88 4.81
2 8.92 8.93 8.83
3 13.63 13.55 11.45
Figure 3. Analytical assumed vibration deformed modal shapes in each basic direction of
weak bending, strong bending, or exural-torsional.
(a)
Figure 4. Deformed shapes fromnite-element analyses. (a) Mode 1: Vibration along weak
axis, (Continued)
Vibration Analysis of Composite Cantilever Beams 369
(b)
(c)
Figure 4. (Continued) (b) Mode 2: Vibration along strong axis, and (c) Mode 3: Flexural-
torsional vibration in two different views.
with q as a design variable. The material properties used are E-glass ber, E
f
D 7.239
10
10
Pa, q
f
D 2,600 kg/m
3
, m
f
D 0.255; polyester resins, E
f
D 5.054 10
8
Pa, q
m
D
1,400 kg/m
3
, m
m
D0.30. The material frequencies with respect to ply angle (C/q) at ber
volume fraction V
f
D 50% are shown in Figure 5. As expected, signicant increases of
natural frequency can be observed at q DC/45

for exure-torsion vibration and at q D0

for the bending vibrations in the weak and strong axes. The free vibration natural frequency
versus the beam length is also plotted in Figure 6, and the natural frequencies increase
370 P. Qiao and G. Zou
Figure 5. Inuence of ber ply angles on natural vibration frequencies.
Figure 6. Inuence of beam span length on natural vibration frequencies.
Vibration Analysis of Composite Cantilever Beams 371
Figure 7. Inuence of ber volume fraction on natural vibration frequencies.
dramatically along the strong bending axis as the beam length is reduced; whereas similar
trends are observed for weak-axis vibration and exural-torsional vibration with respect to
the change of beam span length. The modal natural frequency versus ber volume fraction
with beam span length of 3.353 m and q D C/30

is shown in Figure 7. In the analytical

modeling, the material density input as a function of ber volume fraction is dened by a
rule of mixture as q D (1V
f
)q
m
CV
f
q
f
. It can be observed that the ber volume fraction
has a direct impact on the nature frequency of FRP I-beams, particularly for vibration of
exural-torsional mode.
6. CONCLUSIONS
In this article, a theoretical vibration analysis of pultruded FRP composite cantilever
I-beams is presented. Based on a Vlasvo-type linear hypothesis, the equilibriumdifferential
equations are formulated and solved by the Ritz energy method. Both the exact transcen-
dental and polynomial shape functions, which satisfy the cantilever boundary conditions,
are used to obtain the analytical solutions. The comparisons with the predictions based
on the nite-element method demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed analytical method
for free vibration analysis of FRP cantilever I-beams. The ber volume fraction is of sig-
nicant importance for the free vibration behavior, particularly for the exural-torsional
vibration mode, because the higher ber volume fraction leads directly to higher critical
vibration frequencies. In the case of the effect of ber orientation, there is a great increase
on exural-torsion vibration frequency for the ber angle of q D C/45

; whereas the
maximum bending vibration frequencies occur at q D 0

as expected. The analytical

372 P. Qiao and G. Zou
approach presented can be used as an efcient and versatile tool for free vibration analysis
of FRP thin-walled structures and as a basis for further study in active control and damping
of FRP structures.
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