Finite element analysis of free vibration and wave propagation in

asymmetric composite beams with structural discontinuities

A. Chakraborty, D. Roy Mahapatra, S. Gopalakrishnan
*
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
Abstract
A new rened locking free rst-order shear deformable nite element is presented, and its utility in solving free vibration and
wave propagation problems in laminated composite beam structures with symmetric as well as asymmetric ply stacking is dem-
onstrated. The paper also illustrates the application of the element to handle dierent types of structural discontinuities such as ply-
drops, multiply connected beams with rigid joints, lap joints and the beams with delaminations. The developed nite element has a
static stiness matrix that is obtained by exactly solving the axialexuralshear coupled governing homogeneous dierential
equations. Results from the analysis show that the formulated element predicts response that compares very well with the available
results reported in the literature. A novel way of modeling structural discontinuities such as delamination is given which signicantly
reduces the modeling eort to determine static, dynamic and wave propagation responses quickly and accurately. 2001 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Asymmetric ply; Shear locking; First-order shear deformation; Free vibration; Wave propagation; High frequency; Lap joint;
Delamination; Stress intensity factor
1. Introduction
Fiber reinforced laminated composites are now
widely used as structural material in many applications,
such as aerospace, automobile, civil engineering, etc.
because of its certain advantages over conventional
structural materials. These materials have high strength
to weight ratio and their behaviour depends upon its
bre orientation and the nature of the ply-stacking se-
quences. Hence, it is possible to tailor their property to
suit the loading environment and other functionalities.
Due to their anisotropic nature, the analysis of these
structures are much more complicated than the metallic
structures. Composite beam structures have found ex-
tensive use in space frames, earth based skeletal struc-
tures, robot arms, engine mounts, helicopter blades and
automobile frames.
Due to high ratio of extensional modulus to trans-
verse shear modulus, the deformation due to shear can
not be ignored even for reasonably large slenderness
ratio (L=h) [1,2]. Ply-stacking sequences can also sub-
stantially alter the behaviour of composites. For exam-
ple, if the plies are unevenly stacked about the mid-plane
of the composites, axial-bending coupling exists. For
certain practical applications such as composite blades
in modern rotor systems, requirement of pre-twist pro-
duces such coupling [3]. Another application is the smart
composite structures with embedded devices such as
micro-actuators, sensors and electronics, wherein pre-
diction of high frequency disturbance propagation in
minute structural discontinuities needs accurate simu-
lation [4]. In many such structures, asymmetric cong-
uration may be essential from better design viewpoints
(aerodynamics, repairability and accessibility in health
monitoring systems etc.). The behaviour of asymmetric
laminated composites, especially at high frequencies,
may expected to be dierent from that of symmetric
congurations and are not well-documented. Ref. [5] has
shown that the character of axialexural coupled
modes changes at high frequencies.
The nite element formulations based on rst-order
shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order
shear deformation theories (HSDTs) necessarily lead to
C

nite elements. This is due to independent interpo-

lations of slope and their derivatives. One characteristic
feature of the C

elements is that they are always asso-

ciated with constraints namely the shear constraints.
In the earlier literatures (e.g. [69]) it can be referred that
Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-080-309-2757; fax: +91-080-360-
0134.
E-mail address: krishnan@aero.iisc.ernet.in (S. Gopalakrishnan).
0263-8223/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0263- 8223( 01) 00130- 1
this shear constraints in the element formulation were
not taken into account. When such elements are used in
the discretization of thin beams, they do not yield zero
shear strains. This problem is called the shear locking
problem. The property of shear locked elements is that it
gives magnitude of displacement that are many orders
lesser than their true value. However, under the frame-
work of above inconsistent formulation, one can elimi-
nate shear locking as demonstrated in [6] using selective/
reduced integration.
All the constraint media problems such as the shear
locking problem lead to two sets of stiness matrices.
One coming from unconstrained strain eld and the
other through the constrained strain eld. For shear
deformable elements, the bending stiness matrix [K
B
]
comes from the unconstrained strain eld, while the
shear stiness matrix [K
S
] comes from the constrained
strain eld. The latter is due to the constrained shear
eld and is also called the Penalty matrix. Hence, the
problem reduces to solving the matrix equation
[K
B
[ [ a[K
S
[[u = f ; (1)
where u and f are the nodal displacements and
force vectors and a is the penalty parameter. In the
penalty limit as the beam becomes thin, a value becomes
very large and in order to get accurate solution, matrix
[K
S
] requires to be singular. This does not happen in C

elements unless proper treatment is given to the penalty

matrix. One way to alleviate the problem is to perform
reduced integration on the penalty matrix [K
S
] and make
it rank decient. This would ensure that [K
S
] is singular
and proper solutions can be obtained. Hence, numerical
integration plays a crucial role in getting proper solu-
tions in the constrained media problems.
Locking can be elegantly explained using eld con-
sistency approach developed in [10]. According to this
study, the origin of locking is linked to the choice of
interpolation functions for eld variables. The approach
is based on the use of smoothed shape function deriva-
tives. In other words, the interpolation polynomial of a
constrained eld (e.g. shear strain) can be expanded in
terms of Legendre's polynomial. Only those terms in the
polynomials that do not introduce spurious constraints
are retained in the constrained eld. This procedure
yields smoothed shape function derivatives. Refs. [11,12]
used the above approach in eliminating the shear and
membrane locking in beam elements.
An alternate way of formulating consistent nite el-
ement is to choose interpolation polynomials that are
exact solutions to the governing equations. Such ap-
proach was adopted to derive exact stiness matrix for
higher-order isotropic rod in [13], for rst-order shear
deformable isotropic beams in [14], for rst- and higher-
order shear deformable isotropic beams [15,16]. In these
elements, some constants in the interpolation functions
are dependent on material and cross-sectional proper-
ties. Here, the degrees of interpolation polynomials are
dictated by the orders of governing equations and as the
beam becomes thin, all these material dependent con-
stants transform themselves in such a manner that ele-
mentary solutions are recovered. The advantage is that
the user need not know whether the shear deformation is
signicant. With similar physical implication, interpo-
lation functions in terms of series were used in [17] that
reduced to continuum solution when higher number
terms were considered in the solution.
In this paper, we take this approach to derive an exact
static stiness matrix of an unsymmetric laminated
beam. The element has three degrees of freedom (DOF)
per node. In the process of the derivation, we arrive at
two additional non-dimensional parameters which
quantify the amount of coupling due to asymmetric ply
orientations. We propose to use this element to study
the static, free vibration and wave propagation beha-
viour of thick composite beams with structural discon-
tinuities that are amenable to beam nite element
analysis. Although there are many literatures available
on static and free vibration analysis (e.g. [1518]), high
frequency wave propagation problems are not well-in-
vestigated for such congurations. Also the available
composite beam nite elements mostly deal with sym-
metric ply congurations.
The eect of transverse shear deformation on the vi-
bration characteristics are more pronounced in lami-
nated composite beam because of its anisotropy, and
EBT is inadequate for accurate prediction of natural
frequencies. However, there are very few works reported
on the free vibration studies of asymmetric laminated
composite beams and most of them are based on semi-
analytic approaches [1921]. Many other works re-
ported have used dierent FE interpolation and ana-
lytical techniques to determine free vibration behaviour
(e.g. [17,18,2224]). The above-mentioned studies reveal
that, the EBT is applicable only for sections with high
slenderness ratio. Also rotary inertia and shear defor-
mation are of great importance in composites (especially
at higher frequencies) which has been studied in the
present work.
Behaviour of composites to high velocity impact is
still not well understood. Very few literatures are re-
ported in this connection. Starting from manufacturing,
and throughout their design life, these structures are
vulnerable to highly transient loading such as tool drop
and other kinds of impact. Such situations fall under
wave propagation problems and two characteristics that
dierentiates this problem from conventional dynamic
response problems are (1) high frequency content of
loading history and (2) the phase transformation during
propagation.
The dynamics of deep beam structures subjected to
high frequency loading (or impact) introduces certain
eects which are absent in their elementary counterparts.
24 A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
These eects may be seen in the form of a new propa-
gating mode. High frequency contents require large
system size in FE formulation to capture all the higher
modes. Hence the element size has to be comparable to
wavelengths, which are very small at high frequencies.
Such problems are traditionally solved in frequency do-
main and one such method is the spectral element
method (SEM) (see [25] for isotropic Timoshenko beam
and [5] for composite EulerBernoulli beam). Using
SEM, it is easier to capture essential qualities of beam
transient dynamics. However, spectral element formu-
lations, which are based on exact solutions to the gov-
erning wave equations in the transformed frequency
domain is available till date only for few structural ele-
ments (such as rods, beams, cylinders, etc.).
The paper is organized as follows. First, the nite
element formulation is outlined. Here, we derive the
exact shape functions arising from exact solutions to the
governing equations. Using these shape functions,
the exact stiness matrix and consistent mass matrix and
load matrix are obtained. Next, static, free vibration and
wave propagation problems are solved using this ele-
ment. Results of static and free vibration problems are
compared with those available in existing literatures.
Wave propagation solutions are compared with 2D
plane stress FE solutions. Next, composite beams with
structural discontinuities such as ply-drops, rigid and
lap joints are analyzed. A global/local strategy is used to
model delamination. Natural frequencies of a delami-
nated beam obtained using this approach is compared
with the result reported in the literature. Mode I and
Mode II stress intensity factors are computed from J-
integral at the global/local interface. Important conclu-
sions are made along with discussion on further scope of
studies to use such approach for faster and cost-eective
FE analysis.
2. Finite element formulation
Considering the FSDT for a laminated composite
beam, the axial and the transverse displacement eld can
be expressed as
U(x; y; z; t) = u

(x; t) z/(x; t);

W (x; y; z; t) = w(x; t); (2)
where u

and w are axial and transverse displacements in

the reference plane, respectively, z is measured from the
reference plane. Using Eq. (2), the linear strains can be
written as
e
xx
= u

;
x
z/;
x
; c
xz
= / w

;
x
: (3)
Here ();
x
represents dierentiation with respect to x.
The constitutive relation for orthotropic ply congura-
tion is given by
r =
r
xx
s
xz
_ _
=

Q
11
0
0

Q
55
_ _
e
xx
c
xz
_ _
; (4)
where r
xx
and e
xx
are normal stress and normal strain in
the x-direction, s
xz
and c
xz
are shear stress and shear
strain. The expression for

Q
ij
which are in the element
local coordinates can be found in [26]. The strain energy
(S) and kinetic energy (T) are then given by
S =
1
2
_ _
(r
xx
e
xx
s
xz
c
xz
) dA dx;
T =
1
2
_ _
q(
_
U
2

_
W
2
) dA dx;
(5)
where () denotes temporal derivative, A is the area of
cross-section of the beam. Applying Hamilton's princi-
ple, the governing dierential equations are obtained
and they can be written as
I
1

/ I

u

A
11
u;

xx
B
11
/;
xx
= 0; (6)
I
1
u

I
2

/ D
11
/;
xx
B
11
u

;
xx
A
55
w;
x
( /) = 0; (7)
I

 w A
55
w;
xx
( /
x
) = 0; (8)
and associated force boundary equations can be ex-
pressed as
A
11
u

;
x
B
11
/;
x
= N
x
; A
55
(w;
x
/) = V
x
;
B
11
u

;
x
D
11
/;
x
= M
x
;
(9)
where the stiness coecients integrated over and uni-
form but arbitrary beam cross-section are obtained as
[A
11
B
11
D
11
[ =
_
A

Q
11
[1 z z
2
[ dA;
A
55
=
_
A

Q
55
dA
(10)
and the mass moments are obtained as
[I
0
I
1
I
2
[ =
_
A
q[1 z z
2
[ dA: (11)
In Eq. (9), N
x
; V
x
and M
x
are, respectively, the axial
force, shear force and bending moment acting at the
boundary nodes. The displacement interpolation func-
tions for the element formulations are obtained by
solving static part of the governing ODEs obtained from
Eqs. (6)(8). The exact solution takes the following
form:
u

= C
1
C
2
x C
3
x
2
;
w = C
4
C
5
x C
6
x
2
C
7
x
3
;
(12)
/ = C
8
C
9
x C
10
x
2
: (13)
It is important to note that in Eqs. (12) and (13), axial
displacement eld is quadratic. Normally in symmetric
ply conguration, the axial and transverse motions are
uncoupled and hence only a linear polynomial interpo-
lation is sucient. It is the unsymmetry, that increases
the degree of interpolation. Ref. [27] has used such an
A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336 25
interpolation to obtain the axial response in a straight
and curved beam.
From Eqs. (12) and (13), we see that the order of
interpolation of w be one order higher than slope /. This
is one of the requirement for the element to be free of
shear locking. Few nite elements formulated based on
the above scheme is available in the literature as men-
tioned earlier. The proposed solutions exactly meet the
condition. The exact solutions for the displacements
have a total of 10 constants and only six boundary
conditions (Eq. (9) evaluated at two nodes of the ele-
ment) are available. Hence, there are only six indepen-
dent constants. The additional four dependent constants
are expressed in terms of independent constants by
substituting Eqs. (12) and (13) in Eqs. (6)(8). In doing
so, we get
C
3
=
B
11
A
55
2(A
11
D
11
B
2
11
)
(C
5
C
8
); C
6
=
1
2
C
9
; (14)
C
7
=
A
11
A
55
6(A
11
D
11
B
2
11
)
(C
5
C
8
);
C
10
=
A
11
A
55
2(A
11
D
11
B
2
11
)
(C
5
C
8
):
(15)
Writing
a =
B
11
A
55
(A
11
D
11
B
2
11
)
; b =
A
11
A
55
6(A
11
D
11
B
2
11
)
; (16)
solutions for the displacement eld can now be ex-
pressed as
u

= C
1
C
2
x
a
2
(C
5
C
8
)x
2
; (17)
w = C
4
C
5
x
1
2
C
9
x
2

b
6
(C
5
C
8
)x
3
; (18)
/ = C
8
C
9
x
b
2
(C
5
C
8
)x
2
: (19)
Finite element formulation begins by substituting the
boundary conditions at two nodes at x = 0 and x = L.
These give rise to a matrix relation between the con-
stants and nodal displacements. Inverting the relation
and substituting for constants in Eqs. (17)(19), the re-
sulting shape function matrix [N[ is obtained as
u = u

w /
T
= [N[u
e
; (20)
where u
e
= u
1
w
1
/
1
u
2
w
2
/
2

T
is the element
nodal displacement vector. Explicit form of [N[ is given
in Appendix A. The strain displacement relationship is
expressed as
e = e
xx
c
xz

T
= [B[u
e
; (21)
where [B[ is the strain displacement matrix. The stiness
matrix is obtained as
[K[ =
_ _
[B[
T
[

Q[[B[ dA dx: (22)

Next, the consistent element mass matrix is expressed as
[M[ =
_ _
q[N[
T
[N[ dA dx; (23)
which in expanded form can be written as
[M[ =
_
L
0
I

[N
u
[
T
[N
u
[
_
[N
w
[
T
[N
w
[
_
dx

_
L
0
I
1
[N
u
[
T
[N
/
[
_
[N
/
[
T
[N
u
[
_
dx

_
L
0
I
2
[N
/
[
T
[N
/
[
_ _
dx: (24)
Here N
u
; N
w
and N
/
are, respectively, the rst, second
and third row of the shape function matrix (Appendix
A). We see that unlike conventional elements, the shape
functions of this element is dependent not only on the
length of the element but also on its material and cross-
sectional properties. The stiness matrix developed is
exact as it is derived from displacement eld that satis-
es the homogeneous form of the governing static dif-
ferential equation, while the mass distribution is
approximate. Rotary inertia and eect of geometric and
material asymmetry is taken into account. This partic-
ular aspect is very crucial to the quality of the response
predicted by the element. This is because, the order of
error introduced by the approximate stiness matrix, as
in the case of approximate formulation is one order
higher than that for mass matrix [28]. We will subse-
quently call it rened rst-order shear deformable ele-
ment (RFSDE).
3. Numerical results
In order to asses the performance of the element,
static, free vibration and wave propagation analysis are
carried out for problems with varying complexity. The
results are compared with exact solutions (where avail-
able) and in some cases from the available results in
published literatures. For wave propagation problems,
preliminary results are compared with 2D plane stress
FE solutions.
3.1. Static analysis
Here the formulated element is tested under uni-
formly distributed load for various boundary condi-
tions. The exact shape function is used to obtain
consistent load vector for uniformly distributed load.
Numerical results are compared with results given in [15]
where both symmetric and asymmetric cross-ply lami-
nated composite beams have been considered for vari-
ous slenderness ratio and boundary conditions. All
laminae are assumed to be of the same thickness and
made up of the same orthotropic material. A shear
correction factor of 5/6 is used to approximate parabolic
26 A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
shear stress variation. The deections are non-dimen-
sionalized as
w =
wAE
2
h
2
10
2
f

L
4
; (25)
where h is the total thickness, f

is the intensity of uni-

formly distributed transverse load and E
2
is the elastic
modulus in the direction normal to the bre, w is the
mid-span deection. Beams with following boundary
conditions are considered: (1) hingedhinged (HH), (2)
clampedhinged (CH), (3) clampedclamped (CC) and
(4) clampedfree (cantilever) (CF). The results are ob-
tained for various L=h ratio. In all this cases, the beams
are discretized with only 20 elements to show that
RFSDE can capture the eect of shear deformation
accurately. As seen in Table 1 and 2, the results pre-
dicted by RFSDE compare very well with the results
reported in [15] for all cases.
3.2. Free vibration analysis
In order to asses the element behaviour for free vi-
bration studies, two examples are considered. First is a
simply supported thick beam having unidirectional and
cross-ply-stacking sequences. Second is a cross-ply beam
with dierent boundary conditions. Results for these
two examples are compared with the results reported in
[22].
Here two cases are considered. (1) a beam with
L=h = 120 and (2) a beam with L=h = 15. Following
material properties are assumed. E
1
= 144:84 GPa,
E
2
= 9:65 GPa, G
23
= 3:45 GPa, G
12
= G
11
= 4:14 GPa,
m
12
= 0:3, q = 1389:79 kg=m
3
. 10 elements are taken to
model the beam. Table 3 shows the comparison of the
rst ve natural frequencies of a long thin (L=h = 120)
and a short thick (L=h = 15) simply supported unidi-
rectional (0) composite beam. As seen in this table, the
present element (RFSDE) predicts the natural frequen-
cies that are in good agreement with the available results
for both thin and thick beams. In Table 4, the rst four
non-dimensional natural frequencies of a four layer
symmetric cross-ply beams with dierent boundary
conditions are compared. The results compare well with
the results reported in [22]. It is to be noted that, in [22],
governing equation is solved directly assuming har-
monic solution for w and /. Table 5 shows the non-di-
mensional natural frequencies of a four layer symmetric
angle-ply composite beams with L=h = 15. Even here,
the results compare very well with the results reported in
[22]. Here the non-dimensional natural frequency is gi-
ven by x = xL
2

q=E
1
h
2
_
, where x is the actual natural
frequency.
3.3. Wave propagation analysis
The characteristics of the wave propagation problem
is that the frequency content of the forcing function
(such as high velocity impact or blast loading) is very
high. Hence, unlike conventional structural dynamic
problems, all the higher-order modes also participate in
the response. At higher frequencies, the wavelengths are
smaller requiring element size also to be smaller (in the
order of the wavelength). Therefore, FE model for wave
propagation has large system size.
The aim of this present section is to study the eect of
asymmetry on the overall response. In addition, the
study aims to capture a unique feature of the higher-
order beam model, namely the propagating shear mode
at high frequencies. For this purpose, two examples are
considered. In the rst example, a cantilever beam
subjected to both longitudinal and transverse impact is
Table 1
Non-dimensional mid-span deection ( w) of symmetric cross-ply
[0/90/0] beams for various boundary conditions under uniformly
distributed load
L=h Theory HH CH CC CF
5 FSDT 2.146 1.922 1.629 6.698
RFSDT 2.145 1.921 1.629 6.693
10 FSDT 1.021 0.693 0.504 3.323
RFSDT 1.020 0.693 0.504 3.321
50 FSDT 0.661 0.276 0.144 2.243
RFSDT 0.660 0.276 0.144 2.242
Table 2
Non-dimensional mid-span deection ( w) of antisymmetric cross-ply
[0/90] beams for various boundary conditions under uniformly
distributed load
L=h Theory HH CH CC CF
5 FSDT 5.036 3.320 2.379 16.436
RFSDT 5.048 3.324 2.381 16.496
10 FSDT 3.750 1.834 1.093 12.579
RFSDT 3.751 1.835 1.094 12.607
50 FSDT 3.339 1.349 0.681 11.345
RFSDT 3.353 1.356 0.686 11.413
Table 3
Comparison of natural frequencies of a simply supported [0]
composite beam
Span/depth
(L=h)
Mode Frequency (kHz)
FSDT [22] CLT RFSDT
120 1 0.051 0.051 0.051
2 0.203 0.203 0.202
3 0.457 0.457 0.453
4 0.812 0.812 0.802
5 1.269 1.269 1.248
15 1 0.755 0.813 0.755
2 2.548 3.250 2.563
3 4.716 7.314 4.816
4 6.960 13.00 7.283
5 9.194 20.32 9.935
A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336 27
considered. The aim of this example is to verify the so-
lution obtained from the present element (RFSDE) with
the results from 2D plane stress FE analysis using three-
noded triangular element. In the second example, an
innite beam is considered to capture all propagating
modes.
3.3.1. Cantilever beam under tip impact load
The main aim of this example is to verify the accuracy
of the solution predicted by the formulated element. A
cantilever beam with length L = 1 m, width b = 0:01 m
and depth h = 0:01 m made of AS/3501-6 graphite-ep-
oxy is considered. Following material properties are
assumed. E
1
= 144:48 GPa, E
2
= 9:632 GPa, m
12
= 0:3
and q = 1389 kg=m
3
. Three dierent ply-stacking se-
quences [0

10
[, [0

5
=45

5
[ and [0

5
=90

5
[ are used which yield
a coupling factor of r = B
2
11
=(A
11
D
11
) = 0:0, 0.214 and
0.574, respectively. An impact load with peak amplitude
4.4 N and of 50 ls duration shown in Fig. 1 is consid-
ered. As seen in this gure, it has a very high frequency
content (nearly 44 kHz). The beam is modeled with 1000
elements giving a system size of 3000 6 in banded
form. Newmark time integration scheme with time step
of 1 ls is used. Results are compared with that predicted
by EBT and 2D plane stress FE solution. The beam
model for 2D analysis had 4000 plane stress triangular
elements. First, the beam is impacted axially at the tip
and the axial velocity is measured at the impact site. The
velocity history is shown in Fig. 2. It can be observed
that the initial response predicted by both the EBT and
RFSDT dier by amplitude. After rst reection from
the clamped boundary, their dierences become signi-
cant in time of occurrence also. Fig. 2 shows that the
longitudinal wave travel slower in an higher-order beam
compared to the elementary beam. The gure also
shows that with the increase in axialexural coupling
(increasing values of r), the longitudinal wave speed as
well as the response amplitude decrease signicantly.
The result compare very well with 2D nite element
solution.
Next the same cantilever beam is impacted in the
transverse direction at the tip. Fig. 3 shows the com-
parison of transverse tip velocity histories. From this
gure, dierences in exural speed between EBT and
RFSDT is very clear. EBT shows the rst reection
around 700 ls, whereas the RFSDE model predicts rst
reection starting at 1200 ls. Hence, for the considered
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Time ( sec)
L
o
a
d

(
N
)

0 50 100
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
x 10
4
Frequency (KHz)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
Fig. 1. Impact load history. Frequency spectrum is shown in the inset.
Table 5
Non-dimensional natural frequencies x of a [h= h= h=h[ angle-ply composite beam (FSDT prediction from [22])
Type h
0 15 30 45
FSDT RFSDT FSDT RFSDT FSDT RFSDT FSDT RFSDT
SS 2.6560 2.657 2.5105 2.511 2.103 2.096 1.537 1.526
CC 4.849 4.857 4.663 4.670 4.098 4.092 3.184 3.170
CF 0.982 0.982 0.925 0.925 0.768 0.765 0.555 0.551
CS 3.730 3.734 3.559 3.562 3.057 3.050 2.303 2.289
Table 4
Non-dimensional natural frequencies x of a [0/90/90/0] cross-ply composite beam with L=h = 15 (FSDT prediction from [22])
Type Mode
1 2 3 4
FSDT RFSD FSDT RFSDT FSDT RFSDT FSDT RFSDT
SS 2.5023 2.507 8.4812 8.540 15.756 16.09 23.309 24.387
CC 4.5940 4.606 10.291 10.387 16.966 17.385 24.041 25.223
CF 0.9241 0.925 4.8920 4.9070 11.440 11.572 18.697 17.302
CS 3.5254 3.533 9.4420 9.520 16.384 16.763 23.685 24.815
28 A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
loading and material conguration, speeds predicted by
EBT-based model is nearly two times higher than the
RFSDE model. The basic dierence from the previous
case of longitudinal wave propagation is that the ex-
ural waves are dispersive in nature. The results of
RFSDE agrees well with 2D FE solution. However, it is
evident that initial behaviour of EBT and RFSDT is
nearly same and only after a certain time, the eect of
shear starts to retard the dispersive exural wave speed
in the beam.
3.3.2. Propagating modes in asymmetric thick composite
beams
The main characteristics that distinguishes thick
beams from an elementary beam is the presence of shear
propagating mode. In addition, due to asymmetric ply-
stacking sequence, the axialexuralshear coupling in-
troduces an additional propagating mode, leaving in
total three propagating modes. The aim of the following
example is to capture these propagating modes graphi-
cally. Hence, it is required that the waves travel non-
dispersively. For this purpose, a sinusoidal pulse
modulated at a frequency which is above the cut-o
frequency [25,29] is allowed to propagate through an
innite beam (Fig. 4). The beam to be modeled is innite
in a sense that the the boundary reections are assumed
negligible within the time-window of observation. We
consider a propagating distance of 2.03 m away from the
point of incidence of the pulse (point C) to measure the
response (at point D) as shown in Fig. 4. The beam is
modeled with 5000 elements. Three ply-stacking se-
quences with r = 0:0, 0.444 and 0.597 are considered.
Beam width and depth are, respectively, 6 and 25 mm.
The composite has material properties as follows.
E
1
= 181 GPa, E
2
= 10:3 GPa, G
13
; G
23
; G
12
= 7:17
GPa, m
12
= 0:28 and q = 1600 kg=m
3
. To understand
the occurrence of dierent propagating modes, we
should look at the dispersion relation (Fig. 5) repro-
duced from the work in [30] used extensively in Spectral
Fig. 2. Comparison of cantilever tip axial velocities between EBT,
RFSDT and 2D plane stress solutions for [0

10
[ (r = 0:0), [0

5
=45

5
[
(r = 0:214) and [0

5
=90

5
[ (r = 0:574) ply-stacking sequences.
Fig. 3. Comparison of transverse velocities between EBT, RFSDT and
2D plane stress solutions for [0

5
=90

5
[ (r = 0:574) ply-stacking
sequence.
2.03m
C D
Z
X
Fig. 4. An innite composite beam with dierent ply-stacking
sequences to study the non-dispersive propagation of wave modes.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Frequency (KHz)
N
o
n
-
d
i
m
e
n
s
i
o
n
a
l

g
r
o
u
p

s
p
e
e
d

(
C
g
/
C
o

)
r = 0.0
r = 0.444
r = 0.597
Loading spectrum
Shear
Bending
Axial
Fig. 5. Dispersion relation for dierent values of axialexuralshear
coupling. Frequency content of a modulated sinusoidal pulse is su-
perimposed.
A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336 29
techniques. This gure shows how group speeds in axial,
exural and shear modes vary with frequency. From this
plot, it can be observed that exural speed is always
lesser than the axial speed. Also it is to be noted that
there exists a propagating shear mode (speed) after a
certain frequency which is mentioned earlier as cut-o
frequency. The expression for cut-o frequency [30] can
be written as
x
cutoff
=

A
55
I

I
2
I

I
2
1

: (26)
Below this frequency, only axial and exural mode exist
and shear mode acts as a damping component. As we
increase the coupling (r), axial speed decreases, but
shear (when exists) and exural speed increases. But this
increment is substantial in shear speed compared to
exural speed. As seen in Fig. 5, exural speed virtually
remains constant (non-dispersive) for r varying from
0.444 to 0.597.
In the present example, beam geometry and material
properties result in a cut-o frequency of 46.78 kHz.
Therefore, the loading frequency (60 kHz) falls well
above the cut-o frequency so that the propagating
shear mode exists. The modulated pulse is rst applied
in the axial direction at C. The axial and transverse
velocities are measured at D. These plots are shown in
Fig. 6. From these plots, we see that for r = 0:0, only
axial mode exists. As the value of coupling factor in-
creases, the amplitude of axial mode decreases and si-
multaneously we can see three propagating modes. The
mode that appear rst is the shear mode, as it has fastest
group speed at 60 kHz (from Fig. 5). The second cor-
responds to axial mode and nally appears the exural
mode. Fig. 6 also shows that for higher coupling, the
eect of exure on axial response increases. It also
shows the transverse velocity due to axial impact. Here
the velocity amplitudes corresponding to axial and
exural modes increase with increase in coupling and the
shear mode seems to have very small eect. Next, the
beam is impacted transversely and the transverse ve-
locity is plotted in Fig. 7. We see that the exural mode
does not change its amplitude and its speed is constant
at 60 kHz for all cases. However, axial speed changes
with coupling and so does its amplitude.
3.4. Wave propagation in ply-dropped beam
Here, the nature of disturbance propagation in
composite beams with ply-drops is studied using
RFSDE. Apart from post-design analysis, such analysis
may also help one to compare the experimental data
from structural acoustic testing. For the purpose of
analysis, ply-drop conguration is modeled as a stepped
beam. An asymmetric composite ([0/90] in group
about the mid-plane) beam with ply-drops (Fig. 8) made
of GFRP is considered. The impact load shown in Fig. 1
is applied at the tip. The beam is modeled using 1000
RFSDE. Fig. 9 shows the longitudinal velocity history
at the tip predicted by both EBT-based FE model and
RFSDE model. EBT model is able to predict reections
0 500 1000 1500
0.001
0
0.001
0
0.001
0
0.001
Time ( sec)
A
x
i
a
l

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(
m
/
s
e
c
)
r=0.597
r=0.444
r=0.0
Effect of Axial Load
0 500 1000 1500
0.0002
0.0001
0
0.0001
0.0002
0
0.0001
0.0002
0
0.0001
Time ( sec)
T
r
a
n
s
v
e
r
s
e

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(
m
/
s
e
c
)
Effect of Axial Load
r=0.597
r=0.444
r=0.0
Fig. 6. Axial and transverse velocities due to a sinusoidal pulse
modulated at 60 kHz (Fig. 5) applied in axial direction. Axial and
shear modes are shown in magnied scales.
0 500 1000 1500
0.001
0
0.001
0
0.001
0
0.001
Time ( sec)
T
r
a
n
s
v
e
r
s
e

t
i
p

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(
m
/
s
e
c
)
Effect of Transverse Load
r=0.597
r=0.444
r=0.00
Fig. 7. Transverse velocity due to a sinusoidal pulse modulated at 60
kHz (Fig. 4) applied in transverse direction. Axial and shear modes are
shown in magnied scales.
d = 10mm
Z, w
X, u
d = 25mm
d = 20mm
d = 15mm
1m
F(t)
Fig. 8. Composite cantilever beam with ply-drops. Depth d of the
segments are shown.
30 A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
up to the second step identically. The last reections
from the clamped boundary predicted by EBT model
has both period and amplitude errors. These are due to
decrease in wave speeds which is the contribution
coming from the shear deformation in RFSDE model.
3.5. Wave transmission and reection in multiply con-
nected composite beams with rigid joint
Often in practice, we come across planar frame
structures with complex geometry. Such structures are
often used for space applications such as solar panel,
antenna, skeletal housing for dierent installations etc.
The present element is used to analyze one such com-
ponent with simpler conguration as shown in Fig. 10.
The three outward segments (can be assumed semi-in-
nite for having no boundary reections and is mod-
eled here as long beam members with clamped edges)
are discretized with 950 elements each, while the seg-
ment AB is modeled with 100 elements. The length of
each element is 10 mm. This yields an overall system
size of 8994 9 in banded form. Each member con-
nected to the joint is made of AS/3501-6 graphite-ep-
oxy. First, the impact load shown in Fig. 1 is applied
axially at A for joint angle / = 45. To study the eect
of axialexural coupling on the wave transmission
and reection, longitudinal velocities at points A and B
are plotted in Fig. 11 for coupling factors r = 0:0,
0.312 and 0.574 corresponding to the ply-stacking se-
quences of [0

10
[, [0

5
=30

2
=60

3
[ and [0

5
=90

5
[, respectively.
For the same conguration, transverse velocities at A
and B due to transverse load at A are plotted in Fig.
12. In these gures, the longitudinal velocities are
normalized with P
max
c
L
=A
11
, and transverse velocities
are normalized with P
max
c
L
h
2
=D
11
, where
c
L
=

A
11
=qA
_
is the longitudinal wave speed, h is the
member depth and P
max
is the maximum load ampli-
tude (4.4 N). As seen from the gure, the reected and
transmitted waves travel with same velocity as they
appear in same time at node A and B, respectively.
Also it is evident that the transmitted magnitude is of
the same order as the initial response. Due to axial
exuralshear coupling, wave speed decreases, al-
though the response magnitude is unaltered.
Next, the eect of variation in joint angle /, on
transmitted response measured at point B is studied.
[0

5
=45

5
[ ply-stacking sequence is chosen for all the
three members. The same load as considered above is
applied axially at point A. The transverse velocity at
B is computed for various angles over the range 10
150. Fig. 13 shows the surface plot of the transverse
velocity history normalized with P
max
c
L
h
2
=D
11
. As seen
in this gure that for / ~ 90, the peaks get reduced
because of increase in joint stiness in vertical direc-
tion. Also the joint has an axis of symmetry about
/ = 90 as the peaks corresponding to 45 is same as
that for 135.
0.5m
X
Z

A B
0.5m
Fig. 10. A rigid angle-joint with three composite beams.
0 100 200 300 400 500
0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Time ( sec)
A
x
i
a
l

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

a
t

A














A
x
i
a
l

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

a
t

B
r = 0.0
r = 0.312
r = 0.574
Fig. 11. Normalized longitudinal velocities at A and B due to axial
load applied at A (in Fig. 10).
0 100 200 300 400 500
6
4
2
0
2
4
6
x 10
4
Time ( sec)
A
x
i
a
l

t
i
p

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(
m
/
s
e
c
)
EBT
RFSDT
Fig. 9. Comparison of longitudinal velocity histories at the tip of ply-
dropped cantilever beam predicted by EBT and RFSDT due to axial
impact load at the tip.
A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336 31
3.6. Impact-induced response of lap-jointed beams
Lap-joints made of metallic and composite materials
are structural components commonly used for assembly
of parts in aircraft and several other structures. Beha-
viour of such structural discontinuity, when subjected to
impact load is very crucial. Particularly in maintenance
and repair works for aging structures, adequate com-
putational modeling and analysis become necessary to
correlate the non-destructive testing data for prediction
of damages and its possible eect on the global struc-
ture. Lap-joints can be riveted or welded or adhesively
bonded. Here, one can use the developed RFSDE to
analyze beams with welded or adhesively bonded joint.
However, in this particular case, it is of relatively sim-
pler geometry and fair accuracy in the results can be
expected (except for the stress-concentration near the
lap-ends). In this study, a composite beam with lap-joint
as shown in Fig. 14 is subjected to impact load (Fig. 1)
in the axial direction. The same material properties for
AS/3501-6 graphite-epoxy as considered in the previous
example is chosen. To obtain the behaviour of the joint
as the waves propagate with longitudinal component
dominating, we reduce the eect of overall exibility by
considering h
2
= h
1
=2 = 1 cm, L
1
= 1 m and L
3
= 0:5 m.
Since in RFSDE, the reference plane has been kept
arbitrary, the element nodes can be put anywhere on the
beam cross-section. It is also viable if one needs to
consider the element nodes placed out of the beam cross-
section, but at nearby location in free space. However,
this is physically valid only when the assumption of
FSDT that the cross-section remain plane after defor-
mation is accurate enough to linearly extrapolate the
same plane out of the material domain with the element
node lying on it. In the present problem, all the element
nodes for three segments L
1
; L
2
and L
3
are placed along
the X-axis which lies on the reference plane (see Fig. 14).
Note that the lap-interface also lies on the reference
plane. In Fig. 15, tip velocity for dierent lap-lengths are
plotted. In Fig. 16, axial stress r
xx
at the mid-point on
the lap-interface is plotted for the same set of lap-
lengths. It can be seen from Fig. 16 that the stress level
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
Time ( sec)
T
r
a
n
s
v
e
r
s
e

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

a
t

A








T
r
a
n
s
v
e
r
s
e

v
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

a
t

B
r = 0.0
r = 0.312
r = 0.574
Fig. 12. Normalized transverse velocities at A and B due to transverse
load applied at A (in Fig. 10).
0
50
100
150
0
200
400
600
800
4
2
0
2
4
6
8
x 10
4
Joint Angle
Time ( sec)
T
r
a
n
s
v
e
r
s
e

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

(
m
/
s
e
c
)
Fig. 13. Transmitted transverse velocity history at B due to axial im-
pact at A for various joint angle /.
L L
L
1
2
3
F(t)
X
h
1
h
2
Z
Fig. 14. A composite beam with adhesively bonded lap-joint subjected
to tip impact load in axial direction.
Fig. 15. Longitudinal velocities at the tip (at the loading point in Fig.
14) of the lap-jointed beam for various lap-lengths.
32 A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
increases signicantly when the reection from the left
clamped edge arrives at the the lap interface. This can be
attributed to the energy getting trapped within the left
segment of length L
3
. However, progressive failure can
be expected from the left-end of the lap-interface (L
2
).
Also, during transmission of the wave energy from right
lap-end to the left lap-end and vice versa, stress-con-
centration is obvious. In the present beam model using
RFSDE, these two eects may not be captured accu-
rately. The main reason is that the vertical plane of
cross-section at the junctions between L
1
L
2
and
L
2
L
3
must be discontinuous due to the continuity
through the cross-sections only partially. Due to this
reason, the stress histories in Fig. 16 have been com-
puted at the mid-point which is suciently away from
the two above-mentioned points of stress-concentration
on both the lap-ends. However, the present analysis is
able to predict the overall trend in an approximate but
reliable manner. Since, the basic mechanics is under-
stood as discussed above, further need for detail FE
model in such cases can be decided based on the im-
portance of the problem.
3.7. Modeling dynamics of delaminated beams
Fracture mechanics based analysis of vibration and
wave propagation in beams with cracks and delamina-
tions has signicant practical implications because of its
association with material degradation and imperfect
bonding which can lead to failure. The present element
is used to analyze the behaviour of delaminated beams
in both K
I
and K
II
fracture modes. It has been reported
in literature (e.g. [31]) that a global/local model in beam
type analysis can produce acceptable approximation of
dynamic J-integral to capture the localized eect of
crack on the global dynamics of beam. However, the
method reported in [31] was employed for frequency
domain analysis of isotropic split beams. Here, we
consider similar strategy in time domain for laminated
composite beams, where the sublaminates or split-beam
segments are modeled using RFSDE. In the local model,
the J-integral equation given by
J =
_
C
(S
_
T)n
x

ou
i
ox
t
i
_
ds

_
V
q_ u
i
o_ u
i
ox
_
qu
i
ou
i
ox
_
dV (27)
is discretized in term of the element nodal resultants. In
Eq. (27), S is the strain energy density, T is the kinetic
energy density, n is the unit normal vector pointing
outside the integration path C, t
i
is the traction and u
i
is
the displacement component (shown in Fig. 17(a)).
Now, as shown in Figs. 17(b) and (c) which together
represent specically the 2D version of our beam
problem, the nodal forces and displacements at the
global/local interface containing the delamination or
crack tip can be used to discretize Eq. (27). This can be
expressed as
J =
1
2

1
(1 r
2
)
N
2
x
A
11
_ _

M
2
x
D
11

2rN
x
M
x

A
11
D
11
_
_

V
2
x
A
55
2V
x
/
_
n
x

1
2

I
0
_ u
2
_ _
_ w
2
_
2I
1
_ u

_
/ I
2
_
/
2
_
n
x
: (28)
Following the study reported in [32] for unidirectional
composite, the relationship between stress intensity
factor (SIF) and J-integral (same as the strain energy
release rate (G) for linear analysis) can be written as
[J
I
; J
II
[ =
1 k
1
2E
1
E
2
_ _
1=2
k
1=4
2
K
2
I
; k
1=4
2
K
2
II
_ _
; (29)
n
V

X
Z
Delamination
n

V
(b)
(c)
x

(a)
Crack
Fig. 17. (a) General conguration of closed path for J-integral com-
putation at the crack tip. (b) Through-delamination in a thick beam.
(c) A connected beam element model for J-integral computation for a
through-delamination.
Fig. 16. Axial stress (r
xx
) history at the mid-point on the lap interface
of length L
2
for various lap-lengths.
A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336 33
where
k
1
=
(E
1
E
2
)
1=2
2G
12
(m
12
m
21
)
1=2
; k
2
=
E
2
E
1
; J = J
I
J
II
: (30)
Thus, in absence of asymmetry due to ply-stacking se-
quence (r = 0 in Eq. (28)), direct sum of Mode I and
Mode II gives rise to total J. Before going into the nu-
merical illustration of the above computation, we rst
validate the adopted global/local strategy while using
RFSDE to model the dynamics of delaminated com-
posite beams.
3.7.1. Free vibration analysis of delaminated composite
beams
Delamination causes a change in vibration charac-
teristics along with degradation of overall stiness and
strength. The sublaminates generally exhibit new vi-
bration modes and frequencies (as internal perturbation)
that depend on the size and location of the delamina-
tion. Thus, provided the natural frequencies and mode
shapes are known for a composite structure containing
delaminations, the presence of invisible (or barely visible
impact damage) can be detected, and their size and lo-
cation can be estimated. Here, two of such congura-
tions are modeled using the RFSDE for comparison
with previously available results in the literature.
First two natural frequencies of a CC beam (Fig. 18)
with various lengths of delamination (a) located sym-
metrically lengthwise and thickness-wise (t = h=2) are
compared with the results reported in [33,34]. L=h = 100
and isotropic material is considered for comparison. The
natural frequency of free vibration x is normalized as
X = xl
2

qh
2
=E
1
I
_
and is shown in Table 6. The results
shows that the proposed model based on RFSDE pro-
vide a viable tool to handle the problem with good ac-
curacy very easily.
Next, we consider a beam of same geometry and
boundary condition with through thickness mid-plane
delamination (as drawn in Fig. 18), but made of GFRP
composite with following properties. E
1
= 144:48 GPa,
E
2
= 9:632 GPa, G
23
= G
13
= G
12
= 4:128 GPa,
m
12
= 0:3, q = 1390 kg=m
3
. Three natural frequencies
calculated using RFSDE for various lengths of delam-
ination (a) are shown in Table 7. As seen in this table,
the eect of delamination is more pronounced in the
higher modes.
3.7.2. Impact-induced wave propagation in delaminated
composite beams
To obtain the accuracy of the approach for asym-
metric composite beams, a GFRP composite beam with
same material properties as considered in the previous
example is taken into account for which result was
available in [31]. The CC beam as shown in Fig. 18 has
[0

3
=90

3
[ ply-stacking sequence for the base laminate.
The dimension of the beam is given by L = 2:647 m,
width =0.0254 m and depth =6 mm. These are chosen
to compare the results with isotropic case which are
available in [31]. An transverse impact load is applied at
various distances away from the right delamination tip
towards the right clamped edge. Fig. 19 shows the
variation of Mode-II SIF (K
II
) with time. Here, K
II
is
normalized with K

= P
max

a
_
=bh, where a = 1:32 m. As
seen in Fig. 19, the SIF history passes through multiple
zeros denoting the pushpull action of the sublaminates.
The number of zeros depends on the distance between
the applied load and the delamination tip.
In order to capture Mode-I SIF (K
I
), a double can-
tilever beam (DCB) specimen has been considered. The
beam is made of GFRP, where each split leg or subla-
minate has a depth 12.5 mm, width 6 mm and 0

5
=90

5
ply-stacking sequence. The beam is modeled with 3000
elements giving a system size of 3000 6 in banded
X
Z
t
a
l
Fig. 18. A clampedclamped symmetrically delaminated beam.
Table 6
Non-dimensional natural frequencies (X) of a clampedclamped isotropic beam with a symmetric mid-plane delamination (t = h=2)
a=l First mode Second mode
Ref. [33] Ref. [34] RFSDE Ref. [33] Ref. [34] RFSDE
0 22.39 22.36 22.35 61.67 61.61 61.56
0.3 22.23 22.23 22.01 49.00 48.97 48.46
0.4 21.83 21.82 21.67 43.87 43.86 43.43
0.5 20.88 20.88 20.88 41.45 41.50 41.62
0.6 19.29 19.28 19.24 40.93 41.01 40.81
0.7 17.23 17.22 17.86 40.72 40.80 40.48
0.8 15.05 15.05 15.89 39.01 39.04 39.80
0.9 13.00 12.99 12.97 35.38 35.38 35.33
34 A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336
form. K
I
is normalized with K

= (P
max
=2b)

12=h
_
and
its time history is shown in Fig. 20.
In Eq. (28), it can be observed that for any asym-
metric ply-stacking sequence (r ,= 0), there will be ad-
ditional mixed-mode component in J other than J
I
and
J
II
. Therefore, K
I
and K
II
in that case cannot be accu-
rately computed using Eq. (29) and one needs a general
derivation based on mixed-mode dynamic fracture
model in composite. Due to unavailability of such
suitable model, we leave the modeling eort related to
this conguration for future study.
4. Conclusion
This paper presents a formulation of asymmetric
laminated composite beam element that has super
convergent properties. The elements work very well
both in thick and thin situations and hence the ele-
ment is free of shear locking problem normally en-
countered in element formulation based on FSDT.
The element is able to capture all the propagating
wave modes and in particular the shear mode at high
frequencies, which is unique to shear deformable ele-
ments.
The study also brought forth the eect of shear
deformation and the axialexuralshear coupling on
the vibration and wave characteristics. The study
has established that coupling has pronounced eect on
the axial and shear wave speeds, where the bending
speeds are marginally aected. The advantage of
asymmetry in placing the element nodes has been
exploited for ecient modeling and analysis of im-
pact-induced wave propagation in beams with struc-
tural discontinuities such as ply-drops and lap-joints.
The presented element will prove extremely useful in
modeling and analysis of delaminated composite
beams with arbitrary ply-stacking sequences. Here, the
eect of delaminations incorporated in the beam
model using a global/local approach has been found
suitable.
Based on this study, future work can be directed to
consider more complex models such as non-linear joints,
contact and multiple delaminations etc. which are of
practical importance. Also, the present model, if inte-
grated with distributed sensor and actuator elements
under the nite element framework, can be an eective
tool to address several modeling related problems in
smart structures and smart diagnostics.
Appendix A
[N[
36
= [N
u
N
w
N
/
[
t
;
N
u1
= (1 n); N
u2
=
aL
2w
(n
2
n);
N
u3
=
aL
2
4w
_

abL
4
24w
n
aL
2
2
_
(n
2
n); N
u4
= n;
0 100 200 300 400 500
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Time ( sec)
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

s
t
r
e
s
s

i
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

(
K
I
/
K
o
)
Fig. 20. Normalized SIF (K
I
=K

) history for a DCB specimen.

0 100 200 300 400 500 600
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
Time sec
K
I
I
/
K
o

0 mm
125 mm
500 mm
625 mm
Fig. 19. K
II
=K

variation in longitudinally split beam. Legend denotes

distance between point of application of load and the right delamin-
ation tip.
Table 7
Non-dimensional natural frequencies (X) of a clampedclamped
GFRP composite beam with a mid-plane delamination (t = h=2)
a=l First mode Second mode Third mode
0.0 11.17 30.77 60.26
0.3 11.00 24.22 54.31
0.4 10.83 21.71 34.80
0.5 10.44 20.80 26.43
0.6 9.61 15.49 20.40
0.7 8.93 12.41 20.23
0.8 7.95 9.51 19.94
0.9 6.49 6.89 17.66
A. Chakraborty et al. / Composite Structures 55 (2002) 2336 35
N
u5
=
aL
2w
(n
2
n); N
u6
=
aL
2
4w
(n
2
n);
N
w1
= 0; N
w2
= 1
n
w

bL
2
n
2
4w

bL
2
n
3
6w
;
N
w3
=
L
2w
_

bL
3
12w
_
n
L
2
_

bL
3
8w

b
2
L
5
48w

bL
3
4
_
n
2

bL
3
6
_

bL
3
12w

b
2
L
5
72w
_
n
3
;
N
w4
= 0; N
w5
=
n
w

bL
2
n
2
4w

bL
2
n
3
6w
;
N
w6
=
Ln
2w

L
2
_

bL
3
8w
_
n
2

bL
3
n
3
12w
;
N
/1
= 0; N
/2
=
bL
2w
(n
2
n);
N
/3
= (1 n)
bL
2
2
_

b
2
L
4
24w

bL
2
4w
_
(n
2
n);
N
/4
= 0;
N
/5
=
bL
2w
(n
2
n); N
/6
= n
bL
2
4w
(n
2
n);
where n = x=L and
a =
B
11
A
55
A
11
D
11
B
2
11
; b =
A
11
A
55
A
11
D
11
B
2
11
; w = 1
bL
2
12
:
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