BOUNDARY BEAM CHARACTERISTICS ORTHONORMAL POLYNOMIALS IN ENERGY APPROACH FOR VIBRATION OF SYMMETRICAL LAMINATES .1. CLASSICAL BOUNDARY-CONDITIONS

An investigation on the effects of boundary constraints on the vibratory characteristics of symmetrically laminated rectangular plates is carried out. The research findings are reported in a two-part paper. Vibration frequency parameters and mode shapes for symmetric laminates with classical boundary conditions are reported in Part I and elastically restrained boundaries in Part II. The analysis is performed based on the use of admissible beam characteristics orthonormal polynomial functions in the Rayleigh-Ritz method to derive the governing eigenvalue equation. In this paper, several examples for laminates with different combinations of free, simply supported and clamped edges are solved to demonstrate the accuracy and flexibility of the present method. Discussion on the effects of boundary conditions, fiber orientations and stacking sequences on the vibrational response is included.