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Vibration and Control

Vibration of woven fiber laminated composite plates in hygrothermal environment

MK Rath and SK Sahu
Journal of Vibration and Control 2012 18: 1957 originally published online 14 December 2011
DOI: 10.1177/1077546311428638

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Article
Journal of Vibration and Control
18(13) 1957–1970

Vibration of woven fiber laminated ! The Author(s) 2011

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composite plates in hygrothermal DOI: 10.1177/1077546311428638
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environment

MK Rath and SK Sahu

Abstract
The present study deals with both experimental and numerical investigation on the free vibration behavior of laminated
composite plates subjected to varying temperature and moisture. A simple laminated plate model is developed for the
vibration of composite plates subjected to hygrothermal loading. A computer program based on finite element method in
the MATLAB environment is developed to perform all necessary computations. The woven fiber glass/epoxy specimens
were hygrothermally conditioned in a humidity cabinet where the conditions were maintained at temperatures of 300–
425 K and relative humidity ranging from 0% to 1.0% for moisture concentrations. Quantitative results are presented to
show the effects of geometry, material and lamination parameters of woven fiber laminate on the free vibration of
composite plates for different temperature and moisture concentrations. The numerical and experimental results show
that there is reduction in natural frequency in Hz with the increase in temperature and moisture concentration for
laminates with simply supported and clamped boundary conditions with different aspect ratio and side-to-thickness
ratios.

Keywords
Dynamic response, free vibration, frequency, hygrothermal environment, woven fiber
Received: 22 July 2011; accepted: 11 August 2011

and moisture conditions. However, studies involving

1. Introduction
Composite materials are increasingly used in aerospace,
naval and high-performance civil engineering structures
due to their high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-
weight ratios, corrosion resistance and longer fatigue
life and stealth characteristics. Besides military aircraft,
such as the B-2 bomber and Nighthawk F117-A fighter,
recent advancements in composites in the commercial
aircraft sectors, such as the all-composites empennages
on the Boeing 7J7 and McDonnell Douglas MD-91X,
are designed to limit sonic fatigue caused by the new
fuel efficient propfan or unducted fan (UDF) engines.
The structures are often exposed to high temperature
and moisture, which in turn changes their deformation,
vibration and stability characteristics.
All of these advancements and design requirements
place a premium on an in-depth understanding of the
response characteristics of such structural components.
Plenty of studies are available on the vibration of
laminated composite plates under ambient temperature
the vibration of laminated plates subjected to hygro-
thermal conditions are fewer in literature. The previous
studies on the bending, vibration and buckling of mod-
erately thick plates of different support conditions asso-
ciated with elevated temperature are reviewed by
Tauchert (1991). Whitney and Ashton (1971) studied
the effect of expansional strains on the elastic response
of layered composite plates using a generalized
Duhamel–Newmann form of Hooke’s law. Numerical
results indicate that the expansional strains can sub-
stantially affect the gross response characteristics of a
composite material. Dhotarad and Ganesan (1978)
examined the influence of thermal gradient on the
Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology,
Rourkela, India
Corresponding author:
SK Sahu, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of
Technology, Rourkela, Orissa-769008, India
Email: rssksahu@yahoo.com

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1958
natural frequency of rectangular plate vibration using
the finite difference method and finite element method
(FEM). Gandhi et al. (1988) investigated the nonlinear
vibration of moderately thick laminated composite
plates in hygrothermal environments. The shear
deformable plate theory is modified to account for mid-
plane stretching due to large deflections and dimen-
sional changes in the hygrothermal environment.
Chen and Lee (1988) presented the thermally induced
vibrations of a simply supported orthotropic rectangu-
lar plate using differential equation. Chen and Chen
(1988) studied the free vibration of the laminated rect-
angular composite plate exposed to the steady-state
hygrothermal environment. Constantinos and Dimitri
(1990) examined the effect of elevated temperatures,
absorbed moisture and random external excitation on
the dynamic response and structure-borne noise trans-
mission of discretely stiffened flat plates from laminated
composite material using an analytical approach to
obtain the required dynamic response solution. Sai
Ram and Sinha (1992) investigated the effects of mois-
ture and temperature on the free vibration of laminated
composite plates using the FEM. Noor and Burton
(1992) presented analytically the three-dimensional
(3D) solutions for the free vibrations and buckling of
thermally stressed multilayered angle-ply composite
plates. Adams and Singh (1995) investigated the
dynamic properties of fiber-reinforced epoxy compos-
ites by immersion in sea water. Liu and Huang (1995)
studied the free vibration analysis of laminated com-
posite plates subjected to temperature changes using
the FEM to calculate the frequencies of vibration of a
symmetric cross-ply. Eslami and Maerz (1995) investi-
gated the vibration of a symmetric cross-ply plate under
unsteady temperature effects and an unsteady moisture
environment for the simply supported case. Chen and
Chou (1999) presented the free vibration analysis of
orthogonal-woven fabric composites analytically using
one-dimensional elasto-dynamic analysis.
Patel et al. (2002) studied static and dynamic char-
acteristics of thick composite laminates exposed to the
hygrothermal environment using a higher-order FEM.
Rao and Sinha (2004) investigated the effects of tem-
perature and moisture on the free vibration and tran-
sient response of multidirectional composites using 3D
finite element analysis. Shen et al. (2004) discussed in
detail the effects of hygrothermal conditions on the
dynamic response of shear deformable laminated
plates resting on elastic foundations using a micro-
to-micromechanical analytical model. Huang et al.
(2004) investigated the nonlinear vibration and
dynamic response of shear deformable laminated
plates in hygrothermal environments based on
higher-order shear deformation plate theory and the
general Von Karman-type equation of motion.
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Journal of Vibration and Control 18(13)
Young-Wann (2005) examined the vibration charac-
teristics of initially stressed functionally graded rectan-
gular metal and ceramic plates in a thermal
environment using the Rayleigh Ritz method to
obtain the frequency equation. Mutsunaga (2007)
studied the free vibration and stability problems of
angle-ply laminated composite and sandwich plates
subjected to thermal loading using the method of
power series expansion. Atas and Sayman (2008) pre-
sented an overall view on the impact response of
woven fabric composite plates. A number of tests
were performed to examine the damage process step
by step from initiation of damage to final perforation.
Jeyaraj et al. (2009) described the vibration and acous-
tic response characteristics of a fiber-reinforced com-
posite plate in a thermal environment by considering
the inherent material damping property of the com-
posite material using the FEM. Lal and Singh (2010)
described the stochastic free vibration of laminated
composite plates subjected to thermal loading with
general boundary conditions, taking into account the
random material properties and thermal expansion
coefficients using the FEM. Gupta et al. (2010) studied
the thermal gradient effect on the vibration of a non-
homogeneous rectangular plate having bi-direction
thickness variation using the Rayleigh Ritz method
to evaluate the fundamental frequencies. Fakhari
and Ohadi (2011) studied the large amplitude vibra-
tion of functional graded material (FGM) plates under
thermal gradient and transverse mechanical loads
using the FEM. Gupta and Sharma (2011) investi-
gated the effect of linear thermal gradient on vibra-
tions of trapezoidal plates whose thickness varies
parabolically using the Raleigh Ritz Technique.
Most of the above studies deal with numerical anal-
ysis of vibration behavior of unidirectional composite
laminates subjected to hygrothermal conditions.
However, experimental studies on the subject are
scarce in literature. Anderson and Nayfeh (1996) deter-
mined the natural frequencies and mode shapes of lam-
inated composite plates using experimental modal
analysis and the FEM.
Striat et al. (1992) reported experimentally the
effect of seawater immersion on the impact resistance
of glass fiber-reinforced composite materials. The
results indicate that moisture-induced degradation can
significantly reduce the impact resistance of glass fiber-
reinforced epoxy composites. Naik et al. (2000) inves-
tigated the static behavior of industry-driven woven
fabric laminated composite plates under transverse
central low-velocity point impact by using a modified
Hertz law and a 3D transient finite element analysis.
Chakraborty et al. (2000) presented a combined exper-
imental and numerical study of the free vibration of
composite fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) plates to
Rath and Sahu 1959

determine the respective frequency response functions

(FRFs) from which the modal parameters are extracted
2.1. Governing equations
using the FEM. Chaudhuri et al. (2005) presented a The governing equations for the structural behavior of
combined theoretical and experimental investigation the laminated composite plates are derived on the basis
on the free vibration of thin anisotropic fiber-reinforced of first-order shear deformation theory. The constitu-
plastic rectangular plates. Numerical results presented tive relations for the plate subjected to moisture and
here pertain to the resonant frequencies of five-layer temperature is given by
symmetric cross-ply plates with all edges clamped and
simply supported, which are, in turn, compared with  
f F g ¼ ½Df"g  FN ð1Þ
the corresponding experimental results. Botelho et al.
(2005) obtained experimentally the viscoelastic proper-
ties, such as storage modulus and loss modulus of glass/ where
epoxy composites, during hygrothermal conditioning.
 T
Zai et al. (2009) measured experimentally the damping f F g ¼ Nx , Ny , Nxy , Mx , My , Mxy , Qx , Qy
and dynamic stiffness of carbon/epoxy composite beam  N n N N oT
specimens with a focus on the effect of moisture F ¼ Nx , Ny , Nxy , MN N N
x , My , Mxy , 0, 0
absorption.  T
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no experi- f"g ¼ "x , "y , xy , Kx , Ky , Kxy , ’x , ’y
2 3
mental work is reported in literature on the vibration A11 A12 A16 B11 B12 B16 0 0
of industry-driven woven fiber composite plates sub- 6 A12 A22 A26 B12 B22 B26 0 0 7
6 7
jected to hygrothermal conditions. The present study 6 7
6 A16 A26 A66 B16 B26 B66 0 0 7
deals with the effects of geometry, aspect ratio, side- 6 7
6B 0 0 7
to-thickness ratio and lamination parameter on the 6 11 B12 B16 D11 D12 D16 7
½D ¼ 6 7
free vibration behavior of industry-driven woven fiber 6 B12 B22 B26 D12 D22 D26 0 0 7
6 7
laminated composite plates subjected to uniform tem- 6B 0 0 7
6 16 B26 B66 D16 D26 D66 7
perature and moisture experimentally and comparing 6 7
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 S44 S45 5
them using the FEM.
0 0 0 0 0 0 S45 S55

2. Mathematical formulation
The mathematical formulation for the free vibration
of laminated composite plates subjected to moisture
and temperature is presented. Consider a laminated
plate of uniform thickness ‘t’ consisting of a number
of thin lamiae, each of which may be arbitrarily
oriented at an angle ‘y’ with reference to the X-axis
of the co-ordinate system, as shown in Figures 1
and 2.
where Nx , Ny , Nxy are the in-plane internal stress resul-
tants, Mx , My , Mxy are the internal moment resultants,
Qx , Qy are the transverse shear resultants, NN N N
x , Ny , Nxy
are the in-plane nonmechanical stress resultants due to
moisture and temperature, MN N N
x , My , Mxy are the non-
mechanical moment resultants due to moisture and
temperature, "x , "y , xy are the in-plane strains of the
mid-plane, Kx , KY , Kxy is the curvature of the plate
and ’x , y are the shear rotations in the x–z and y–z
planes, respectively.

Figure 1. Arbitrarily oriented laminated plate. Figure 2. Geometry of an n- layered laminate.

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1960 Journal of Vibration and Control 18(13)


The nonmechanical force and moment resultants cos  sin 
½T2  ¼
due to moisture and temperature are expressed as  sin  cos 
follows: 2 3
Q11 Q12 0
  6 7
n oT Xn   Qij k ¼ 4 Q12 Q22 0 5 for i, j ¼ 1, 2, 6
NN
x , NN
y , NN
xy ¼ Qij fegk ðzk  zk1 Þ 0 0 Q66
K¼1 
  Q44 0
for i, j ¼ 1, 2, 6 Qij k ¼ for i, j ¼ 4, 5
n oT 1 X n 
ð2Þ 0 Q55
  
MN N N
x , My , Mxy ¼ Qij k fegk z2k  z2k1
2 K¼1
in which
for i, j ¼ 1, 2, 6

E11 E11 21

where Q11 ¼ , Q12 ¼ ,
ð1  12 21 Þ ð1  12 21 Þ
 T  T E22 12 E22
fegk ¼ ex , ey , exy ¼ ½T 1 2 k ðC  CO Þ Q21 ¼ , Q22 ¼ , Q66 ¼ G12 :
ð1  12 21 Þ ð1  12 21 Þ
þ ½Tf1 2 gTk ðT  TO Þ
E11 , E22 are the Young’s moduli of a lamina along and
in which ½T is the transformation matrix due to moist- across the fibers, respectively, G12 , G13 , G23 are the shear
ure and temperature and is given as moduli of a lamina with respect to 1, 2 and 3 axes and
2 3 12 , 21 are the Poisson’s ratios.
cos2  sin2 
4
½T ¼ sin2  cos2  5 2.2. Strain displacement relations
sin 2 cos 2
The linear strains are defined as follows:
ex , ey , exy are the nonmechanical strains due to moisture
and temperature, 1 , 2 is the moisture coefficient along @u @v @u @v
1 and 2 axes of lamina, respectively, 1 :2 are the ther- "x ¼ þ zx , "y ¼ þ zy , xy ¼ þ þ zxy ,
@x @y @y @x
mal coefficients along 1 and 2 axes of lamina, respec-
tively, T, TO are the elevated and reference moisture @x @y @x @y
x ¼ , y ¼ , xy ¼ þ
concentrations: @x @y @y @x
@w @w
n Z
xz ¼ x þ , yz ¼ y þ ð5Þ
  X k     @x @y
Aij ,Bij ,Dij ¼ Qij k
1, z,z2 ¼ dz ði, j ¼ 1, 2, 6Þ
k¼1 zk1
n Z k
The nonlinear strain components are defined as
X  
Sij ¼  Qij k dz ði, j ¼ 4, 5Þ ð3Þ follows:
k¼1 zk1
2 2 2
Aij , Bij , Dij are the extensional, bending-stretching cou- 1 @u 1 @v 1 @w
"xnl ¼ þ þ
pling and bending stiffnessess and k is the shear correc- 2 @x 2 @x 2 @x
" #
tion 2 2
 factor.
 1 @x @y
Qij k in Equations (11) and (12) is defined as þ z2 þ
2 @x @x
  2 2 2
½Qij k ¼ ½T1 1 Qij k ½T1 T ði, j ¼ 1, 2, 6Þ 1 @u 1 @v 1 @w
    ð4Þ "ynl ¼ þ þ
Qij k ¼ ½T2 1 Qij k ½T2  ði, j ¼ 4, 5Þ 2 @y 2 @y 2 @y
" #
2 2
1 @x @y
þ z2 þ
where 2 @y @y

2 3 @u @u @v @v @w @w
xnl ¼ þ þ
cos2  sin2  sin  cos  @x @y @x @y @x @y
6 7 
½T1  ¼ 4 sin2  cos2   sin  cos  5 @x @y @y @x
þ z2 þ
2 sin  cos  2 sin  cos  cos2   sin2  @x @y @x @y

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Rath and Sahu 1961

2 3
Green’s nonlinear strains are used for derivation of the Ni,x 0 0 0 0
geometrics stiffness matrix due to hygrothermal loads, 6 0 Ni,y 0 0 0 7
6 7
u, v, w are displacements of the mid-plane along the x, y 6 Ni,y Ni,x 0 0 0 7
and z axes respectively, and x , y are rotations of the X6
8 6 0 0 0 0
7
Ni,x 7
½B ¼ 6 7
plate about the x and y axes 6 0 0 0 Ni,y 0 7
i¼1 6 7
6 0 0 0 Ni,x Ni,y 7
6 7
4 0 0 Ni,x 0 Ni 5
2.3. Finite element formulation 0 0 Ni,y Ni 0
The eight-nodded isoparametric element used for the
vibration analysis of woven fiber composite plates is
subjected to hygrothermal loading. Five degrees of free- The element stiffness matrix is given by
dom, u, v, w, yx and yy, are considered at each node.
The stiffness matrix, the mass matrix and the nodal Z þ1 Z þ1 T
load vectors of the element are derived by using the ½Ke  ¼ ½B ½D½BjJjd d ð9Þ
principle of minimum potential energy. The shape func- 1 1
tion of the element is derived using the interpolation
polynomial given below, based on Pascal’s triangle
for convergence criteria:
2.5. Element initial stress stiffness matrix
uð , Þ ¼ a1 þa2 þa3 þa4 2 þa5 þa6 2
þa7 2
þa8 2

ð6Þ The nonlinear strain equations are represented in

matrix form:
The displacements are expressed in terms of their
nodal values by using the element shape functions  T
and are given by "nl ¼ "xnl , "ynl , xynl ¼ ½Rfdg=2

X
8 X
8 X
8 where T
u¼ Ni ui , v ¼ Ni vi , w ¼ Ni wi fdg ¼ ux , uy , vx , vy , wx , wy , x,x , x,y , y,x , y,y , x , y .
i¼1 i¼1 i¼1
ð7Þ Equations fdgmay be expressed as
X
8 X
8
x ¼ Ni xi , y ¼ Ni yi
i¼1 i¼1 fdg ¼ fGgf@e g ð10Þ
where Ni is the shape function at a node i.
The shape function Ni is defined as where

2 3
1 Ni,x 0 0 0 0
N i ¼ ð1 þ i Þð1 þ 1 Þð 1þ 1  1Þ for i ¼ 1, 2, 3 6 Ni,y
4 6 0 0 0 0 7 7
1  6 0 Ni,x 0 0 0 7
Ni ¼ 1  2
ð1 þ iÞ for i ¼ 5, 7 6 7
2 6 0 Ni,y 0 0 0 7
6 7
1   6 0 0 Ni,x 0 0 7
8 6 7
2
N i ¼ ð1  iÞ 1 for i ¼ 6, 8 X 6 0
2 6 0 Ni,y 0 0 7 7
½G ¼ 6 0
i¼1 6
0 0 Ni,x 0 7 7
6 0 0 0 Ni,y 0 7
where , are the local natural co-ordinates of an 6 7
6 0 0 0 0 Ni,x 7
element. 6 7
6 0 0 0 0 Ni,y 7
6 7
4 0 0 0 1 0 5
2.4. Element stiffness matrix 0 0 0 0 1
The linear strain matrix f"g is expressed as
The initial stress stiffness matrix due to hygrother-
f"g ¼ ½Bf e g ð8Þ mal loads is given by

where  Z Z T
T   þ1 þ1
f e g ¼ u1 , v1 , w, x1 , y1 . . . . . . . . . , u8 , v8 , w8 x8 , y8 K e ¼ ½G ½S½GjJjd d ð11Þ
1 1

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1962 Journal of Vibration and Control 18(13)
n R
P n R
P
ek ek
where in which P1 ¼ ek1 dz and I ¼ ek1 z2 dz.
k¼1 K¼1
2 3
S11
6 S21 S22 7
6 7
6 0 0 S33 7
6 7
6 0 0 S43 S44 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 0 S55 7
6 7
6 0 0 0 0 S65 S66 7
½S ¼ 6
60 0
7
7
6 0 S73 S74 0 0 S77 7
6 0 0 S83 S84 0 0 S87 S88 7
6 7
6 S91 S92 0 0 0 0 0 0 S99 7
6 7
6 S101 S102 0 0 0 0 0 S109 S110 7
6 7
4 0 0 S113 S114 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
S121 S122 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

in which The element load vector due to external transverse

static load p per unit area is given by
2 3
S11 ¼ S33 ¼ S55 ¼ Nrx S22 ¼ S44 ¼ S66 ¼ Nry Z Z p
fPe g ¼ Ni 4 0 5dx dy ð13Þ
S21 ¼ S43 ¼ S65 ¼ Nrxy , S77 ¼ S99 ¼ Nrx t2 =12,
0
S88 ¼ S1010 ¼ Nry t2 =12
The element load vector due to hygrothermal forces
S87 ¼ S109 ¼ Nrxy t2 =12,  S73 ¼ S91 ¼ Mrx , and moments is given by
 S84 ¼ S102 ¼ Mry  N
Z þ1 Z þ1 T
 
 S74 ¼ S83 ¼ S92 ¼ S101 ¼ Mrxy , P ¼ ½B FN jJjd d ð14Þ
1 1
 S113 ¼ S121 ¼ Qrx ,  S114 ¼ S122 ¼ Qry

2.7. Solution process

where Nirx , Nry , Nrxy are the in-plane initial internal force
resultants per unit length, Mrx , Mry , Mrxy are the initial The first part of the solution is to obtain the initial
internal moment resultants per unit length and Qrx , Qry stress resultants induced by the moisture and tempera-
are the initial transverse shear resultants. ture conditions. The element stiffness matrix, the initial
stress stiffness matrix due to hygrothermal load, the
mass matrix and the load vectors of the element,
2.6. Element mass matrix given by Equations (9)–(14), are evaluated by first
expressing the integrals in local natural co-ordinates,
Z þ1 Z þ1 T x and Z, of the element and then performing numerical
½Me  ¼ ½N ½P½NjJjd d ð12Þ integration by using Gaussian quadrature.
1 1 
The initial displacements i , are found using the
where the shape function matrix equilibrium condition
   
2 3 ½K i ¼ PN ð15Þ
Ni 0 0 0 0
6 7 Then the initial stress resultants
8 6
0 Ni 0 0 0 7
X 6 7 Nix , Niy , Nixy , Mix , Miy , Mixy , Qix and Qiy are obtained
6 7
½N ¼ 6 0 0 Ni 0 0 7 from Equations (1) and (10). Then the element matrices
i¼1 6 7
4 0 0 0 Ni 0 5 are assembled to obtain the respective global matrices
0 0 0 0 Ni ½K, ½K  and ½M. The next part of the solution involves
2 3 determination of natural frequencies from the eigenva-
P1 0 0 0 0
6 7 lue solution of the equation given below:
6 0 P1 0 0 07
6 7
½P1  ¼ 6
6 0 0 P1 0 077 For vibration ½K þ ½K   !2n ½M ¼ 0 ð16Þ
6 7
4 0 0 0 I 05
0 0 0 0 I The Flow chart of Program using FEM formulation
in the MATLAB environment for vibration of

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Rath and Sahu 1963

composite plates subjected to hygrothermal loads is

given in Appendix 1.

3. Experimental program
Glass fiber/epoxy composite specimens were fabricated
using a weight fraction of 55 : 45 by the hand lay-up
method. Woven roving E-Glass fibers (FGP, RP-10)
were cut into the required size according to the
number of specimens required for testing. Each com-
posite laminates consists of 16 plies of fiber in balanced
form as per American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) specification. For preparation of epoxy resin
matrix, hardener 8% (Ciba-Geigy, araldite LY556 and
Hardener HY951) of the weight of epoxy was used as
per ASTM D5687/D5687M-07 (2007). A flat plywood
rigid platform was selected. A plastic sheet, that is, a
mold-releasing sheet, was kept on the plywood plat-
form and a thin film of polyvinyl alcohol was applied
as a releasing agent. Laminating was done with the
application of a gel coat (epoxy and hardener) depos-
ited on the mold by brush, whose main purpose was to
provide a smooth external surface and to protect the
Figure 3. Humidity chamber.
fibers from direct exposure to the environment. Layers
of reinforcement were placed on the mold on top of the
gel coat and the gel coat was applied again by brush.
Any air that may be entrapped was removed using ser-
rated steel rollers to minimize void contents in the sam-
ples. The process of hand lay-up was the continuation
of the above process before the gel coat had fully hard-
ened. After completion of all the layers, again a plastic
sheet was used to cover the top of the last ply by apply-
ing polyvinyl alcohol inside the sheet as a releasing
agent. Again one flat ply board and a heavy flat
metal rigid platform were kept on top of the plate for
compressing purposes. The laminates were cured at
normal temperature (25 C and 55% relative humidity
(RH)) under a pressure of 0.2 Mpa for 3 days. After
proper curing of laminates, the release film was
detached. The specimens were cut for vibration testing
by brick cutting machine into 235 mm  235 mm. The
thickness of 16-layer laminate was measured as 6.0 mm.

3.1. Hygrothermal treatment

The specimens were hygrothermally conditioned in a
humidity cabinet, as shown in Figure 3, where the con-
ditions were maintained at a temperature of 323 K and
RH ranging from 0% to 1% for moisture concentra-
tion, as per ASTM D5229/D5229M-04 (2004). The
humidity cabinet had an inbuilt thermometer for tem-
perature and a hygrometer for RH measurements. The
temperature variation was maintained between 300 and
425 K, whereas the RH was 0% in the temperature
bath, as shown in Figure 4. The composite laminates
Figure 4. Temperature bath.
were placed on perforated trays. A plot of moisture
weight gain versus time data for the laminate is as
shown in Figure 5. The hygrothermal conditioning
was carried out for a period of 36 hours at an interval
of six hours at a temperature of 323 K. It seems to be a

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1964 Journal of Vibration and Control 18(13)

Figure 5. Moisture absorption curves for glass epoxy com-

posites during hygrothermal Conditioning.

Fickian type of diffusion. At this low temperature, it

would ensure nearly uniform diffusion. The variation of
moisture gain, although not reaching a constant value,
has not increased significantly after 36 hours and the Figure 6. The test frame with specimen.
tensile tests on specimens are also done in similar con-
ditions, which is used in the FEM analysis.

3.2. Free vibration test

The composite test specimens were fitted properly to
the prefabricated iron frame, as shown in Figure 6.
The connections of the fast Fourier transform (FFT)
analyzer (Model B&K3560-C), laptop, B&K4507 trans-
ducers, B&K2302-5 modal hammer and cables to the
system were set up as shown in Figure 7. The PULSE
Lab shop software was used during the vibration mea-
surement. The plate was excited in selected points by
means of an impact hammer (Model 2302-5) and this
resulting vibration of the specimens was picked up by
the accelerometer. The accelerometer (B&K 4507) was
mounted on the specimen by means of beeswax. The
signal was then subsequently led to the analyzer, where
its frequency spectrum was also obtained using the
pulse software. Various forms of FRFs are directly
measured. The coherence is observed for each set of Figure 7. The FFT 3560-C Analyzer.
measurements.
The output from the analyzer was displayed on the
Lab shop screen. The modal parameters obtained from
experiments are natural frequencies and modal damp-
4.1. Convergence study
ing factors as determined from the accelerance by the The convergence study is first done for nondimensional
‘peak picking’ method. frequencies of free vibration of four-layer symmetric
cross-ply and symmetric angle-ply laminated composite
plates at a temperature of 325 K and 0.1% moisture
4. Results and discussion concentration for different mesh divisions, as shown
The results of vibration of woven fiber composite plates in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. As observed, a mesh
subjected to hygrothermal loadings are presented using of 10  10 shows good convergence of the numerical
the formulations. The results are presented as follows: solution for the free vibration of composite plates in
the hygrothermal environment and this mesh is
. convergence study; employed throughout for free vibration analysis of
. comparison with previous studies; woven fiber composite plates in the hygrothermal
. new results. environment.

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Rath and Sahu 1965

Table 1. Convergence of nondimensional fundamental fre- Table 3. Comparison of nondimensional free vibration fre-
quencies of free vibration for four sides simply supported (SSSS) quencies for four sides simply supported (SSSS) (0/90/90/0)
four-layered laminated composite plates for two different lami- plates at 325 K temperature.
nation sequences at 325 K temperature. a/b ¼ 1, a/t ¼ 100. At T ¼ 300 K, E1 ¼ 130 Gpa, E2 ¼ 9.5 Gpa,
a/b ¼ 1, a/t ¼ 100. At T ¼ 300 K, E1 ¼ 130 Gpa, E2 ¼ 9.5 Gpa, G12 ¼ 6 Gpa, G13 ¼ G12, G23 ¼ 0.5G12, n12 ¼ 0.3,
G12 ¼ 6 Gpa, G13 ¼ G12, G23 ¼ 0.5G12, n12 ¼ 0.3, a1 ¼ 0.3  106/K, a2 ¼ 28.1  106 p/K.
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
a1 ¼ 0.3  106/K, a2 ¼ 28.1  106 p/K.
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Nondimensional frequency,  ¼ ona2 =E2 t2 .
Nondimensional frequency,  ¼ ona2 =E2 t2
Nondimensional frequencies at 325 K temperature
Nondimensional frequencies
at 325 K temperature Mode number Shen et al. Sai Ram and Sinha, Present FEM
(2004) (1992)
Mess division 0/90/90/0 45/45/45/45 1 7.702 8.088 8.079
44 8.079 11.380 2 17.658 19.196 19.100
66 8.039 10.785 3 38.312 39.324 39.335
88 8.036 10.680 4 44.038 45.431 45.350
10  10 8.036 10.680 FEM: finite element method

Table 2. Convergence of nondimensional fundamental fre-

quencies of free vibration for four sides simply supported (SSSS) Table 4. Comparison of nondimensional free vibration fre-
four-layered laminated composite plates for two different lami- quencies for four sides simply supported (SSSS) (0/90/90/0)
nation sequences at 0.1% moisture concentration. plates at 0.1% moisture concentration.
a/b ¼ 1, a/t ¼ 100. At T ¼ 300 K, E1 ¼ 130 Gpa, E2 ¼ 9.5 Gpa, a/b ¼ 1, a/t ¼ 100. At T ¼ 300 K, E1 ¼ 130 Gpa, E2 ¼ 9.5 Gpa,
G12 ¼ 6 Gpa, G13 ¼ G12, G23 ¼ 0.5G12,p n12 ¼ ffi0.3 b1 ¼ 0, b2 ¼ 0.44. G12 ¼ 6 Gpa, G13 ¼ G12, G23 ¼ 0.5G12,pn12 ¼ ffi0.3, b1 ¼ 0, b2 ¼ 0.44.
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Nondimensional frequency,  ¼ ona2 =E2 t2 .
Nondimensional frequency,  ¼ ona2 =E2 t2

Nondimensional frequencies at Nondimensional frequencies at 0.1% moisture concentration

0.1% moisture concentration Mode number Shen et al. Sai Ram and Sinha, Present FEM
Mess division 0/90/90/0 45/45/45/45 (2004) (1992)
1 9.413 9.429 9.422
44 9.422 12.383 2 19.867 20.679 20.597
66 9.387 11.858 3 39.277 40.068 40.084
88 9.384 11.765 4 45.518 46.752 46.708
10  10 9.384 11.765
FEM: finite element method

4.2. Comparison with previous studies

hygrothermal environment. The FEM results based
The present formulation is validated for free vibration on the present formulation are calculated for vibration
analysis of composite plates subjected to temperature frequencies in Hz with respect to rise in temperature
and moisture, as shown in Tables 3 and 4. The square and moisture concentration. They are given below
plate has four layers of graphite/epoxy composite. The with the following parameters:
four lowest nondimensional frequency parameters of
the composite plate under hygrothermal loadings . different modes of frequencies;
obtained by the present finite element are compared . ply orientation;
with numerical solution published by Sai Ram and . number of layers;
Sinha (1992) and with those of Shen et al. (2004) . aspect ratios;
using a micro-to-macro mechanical analytical model. . side-to-thickness ratios.
The present finite element results show good agreement
with the previous results in the literature. The geometrical and nonmechanical properties are:

a ¼ b ¼ 235 mm, t ¼ 6 mm;

4.3. New results for free vibration
thermal coefficient a1 ¼ 0.3  106/K,
06
New results are presented for the free vibration of a2 ¼ 28.1  1 /K;
woven fiber laminated composite plates in the moisture coefficient b1 ¼ 0, b2 ¼ 0.44.

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1966
The frequencies of vibration of woven fiber compos-
ite plates subjected to the hygrothermal environment
are obtained by using the experimental setup and
numerically using the FEM. The variation of frequen-
cies of vibration in Hz of laminated plates (both exper-
imental and numerical) for the lowest four modes
subjected to temperature is shown in Figure 8. The fre-
quencies of vibration of composite plates decrease with
increase of temperature due to the reduction of
stiffness.
The variation of frequencies in Hz of woven fiber
laminated plates, for the lowest four modes subjected
to moisture concentration, is shown in Figure 9. The
frequencies of vibration decrease with increase of per-
centage of moisture. At an increase in temperature
beyond 400 K and 1% moisture concentration, for all
four lowest mode vibrations the frequencies are reduced
significantly. The frequencies of vibration of composite
plates reduce significantly by 67.6%, 62.68%, 51.40%
and 47.43%, respectively, for the first four lowest
modes with an increase of temperature from 300 to
400 K due to the reduction of stiffness. However, with
an increase of moisture concentration from 0.25% to
1%, the frequencies of vibration of laminated compos-
ite plates reduce by 25.76%, 52.72%, 44.94% and
Figure 8. Variation of frequency in Hz with temperature for
simply supported (s-s-s-s) in lowest four modes of 16 layers [0/
0]4S woven fiber Laminated composite plates.
Figure 9. Variation of frequency in Hz with moisture concen-
tration for simply supported (s-s-s-s) in four lowest mode of 16
layers [0/0]4S woven fiber Laminated composite plates.
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Journal of Vibration and Control 18(13)
36.63%, respectively, due to reduction of stiffness for
the first four lowest modes.
The experimentally and numerically determined res-
onant vibration frequencies of woven fiber composite
plates with uniform rise in temperature and moisture
with respect to their mode shapes (lowest four modes)
are shown in Figures 8 and 9, respectively. The exper-
imentally determined vibration frequencies of symmet-
ric 16-layer cross-ply laminates, with four edges simply
supported, are 4%, 8%, 10%, 12% and 3%, 4%, 6%,
7% higher than their numerical counterparts with
respect to the lowest four modes, respectively, in the
hygrothermal environment. The agreement between
experimentally and numerically determined resonant
frequencies becomes less with higher modes. The
reason for the variation of frequencies is due to inter-
laminar or transverse shear deformation and rotary
inertia becoming important even for thin laminates,
such as the present one, as the wavelength becomes
smaller with the rise of the resonant frequency. A sim-
ilar observation is also observed in the study of vibra-
tion of composite plates without hygrothermal loading
by Chaudhuri et al. (2005).
The study is then further extended to the free vibra-
tion of woven fiber composite plates for different lam-
ination sequences. Sixteen-layer symmetric and anti-
symmetric laminates with the angle of fiber orientations
varying from 0 to 90 are analyzed. As shown in
Figures 10 and 11, the frequencies of vibration in Hz
decrease with increase in temperature and moisture
concentration for laminates with symmetric and anti-
symmetric lay-up. It is observed that the fundamental
frequency of vibration for anti-symmetric laminates is
more than that for symmetric laminates.
This indicates that the free vibration behavior is little
affected by ply orientation for this lay-up. The study is
further extended to investigate the effects of other
parameters numerically using the FEM.
The variation of frequencies in Hz of woven fiber
composite plates subjected to rise in temperature and
Figure 10. Variation of frequency in Hz with temperature for
simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers [0/90] 4S, [45/-45]4S and
[0/90]8, [45/-45]8 woven fiber Laminated composite plates.
Rath and Sahu 1967

moisture concentration with a different number of

layers is shown in Figures 12 and 13. The frequencies
of vibration decrease with increase in temperature and
moisture for a different number of layers. For laminates
with symmetric lay-up, the frequencies of vibration
increase gradually with increase in the number of
layers. The severe hygrothermal environment shall
reduce the stiffness of the composite plates. Results
are presented for laminates subjected to uniform distri-
bution of temperature and moisture concentration. Figure 13. Variation of frequency in Hz with moisture con-
Sixteen-layered glass fiber/epoxy laminates with centration for simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers [0/0]4S, 12
simply supported boundary condition have been ana- layers [0/0]3S, 8 layers [0/0]2S woven fiber Laminated composite
lyzed experimentally and all computations are made plates.
with the FEM in MATLAB code. The vibration fre-
quencies in Hz are reported. The aspect ratios consid-
ered are 0.5, 1.0 and 2, as shown in Figures 14 and 15.
With increase in aspect ratios, the frequencies of vibra-
tion decrease with increase in temperature and moisture
concentration due to the reduction of stiffness of the
plate. It is observed that for aspect ratio 1 and 2 beyond
temperature 400 K and moisture concentration 0.75%,
the frequency of vibration is decreased and approaches
zero with increase in temperature and moisture concen-
tration due to hygrothermal buckling starting beyond
that point. The side-to-thickness ratios are considered Figure 14. Variation of frequency in Hz with temperature for
as 25, 40 and 50, as shown in Figures 16 and 17. simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers. [0/0]4S woven fiber
Laminated composite plates.

Figure 11. Variation of frequency in Hz with moisture con-

centration for simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers [0/90] 4S, Figure 15. Variation of frequency in Hz with moisture con-
[45/-45]4S and [0/90]8, [45/-45]8 woven fiber Laminated com- centration for simply supported (s-s-s-s) of [0/0]4S woven fiber
posite plates. 16 layers Laminated composite plates.

Figure 12. Variation of frequency in Hz with temperature for Figure 16. Variation of frequency in Hz with temperature for
simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers [0/0]4S, 12 layers [0/0]3S, simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers [0/0]4S woven fiber
8 layers [0/0]2S woven fiber Laminated composite plates. Laminated composite plates.

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1968
Figure 17. Variation of frequency in Hz with moisture con-
centration for simply supported (s-s-s-s) of 16 layers [0/0]4S
woven fiber Laminated composite plates.
Figure 18. Variation of frequency in Hz with temperature for
clamped (c-c-c-c) of 16 layers [0/0]4S woven fiber Laminated
composite plates.
Changes in the hygrothermal environment are limited
to the function of thickness only. It is observed that
high temperature and moisture concentration will
soften the composite plate. The thicker plate has the
stronger stiffness and naturally it has a higher vibration
frequency, as seen in the Figures 16 and 17. The reason
behind the variation of vibration frequencies has ren-
dered the plate more susceptible to localized shear
deformation.
The experimental results for 16-layered glass fiber/
epoxy with a simply supported boundary condition
having side-to-thickness ratios are 40 and 50, are com-
pared with four edges clamped plates, as shown in
Figures 18 and 19. The lowest experimental vibration
frequencies decrease with increase in side-to-thickness
ratios for simply supported and clamped boundary
conditions. The experimental vibration frequency is,
however, higher than its numerical counterparts due
to elastic rigidities.
The clamped plate is subjected to more severe hygro-
thermal changes than simply supported plates due to
rigid boundaries. The hygrothermal environment shall
reduce the stiffness of the composite plates in both
clamped and simply supported boundary conditions.
The zero frequency point means that the hygrothermal
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Journal of Vibration and Control 18(13)
Figure 19. Variation of frequency in Hz with moisture con-
centration for clamped (c-c-c-c) of 16 layers [0/0]4S woven fiber
Laminated composite plates.
buckling will occur at that point. The vibration fre-
quencies for the four sides clamped boundary condition
has higher vibration frequencies than the simply sup-
ported one due to better elastic rigidities and clamping
effects at the edges.
5. Conclusion
The present study deals with the parametric study on
free vibration behavior of woven fiber composite plates
subjected to uniform temperature and moisture exper-
imentally and comparing them using the FEM. From
the discussion, the following observations can be made.
. There is a good agreement between natural frequen-
cies of composite plates under the hygrothermal
environment.
. The natural frequencies of vibration of fiber compos-
ite plates decrease with increase of temperature and
moisture concentration due to the reduction of stiff-
ness for all laminates.
. The frequencies of vibration of laminated plates also
decrease substantially with increase of moisture con-
centration for all laminates.
. The frequencies of vibration for anti-symmetric lam-
inates are higher than for symmetric laminates.
However, the frequency decreases with increase of
hygrothermal conditions.
. The frequencies of vibration are greater with
increase in the number of layers. However, the fre-
quency decreases with the increase of hygrothermal
conditions.
. The fundamental frequencies of vibration decrease
with increase in aspect ratios in the hygrothermal
environment.
. The frequencies of vibration increase with increase in
thickness of composite plates in the hygrothermal
environment.
. The severe hygrothermal environment shall reduce
the stiffness and strength of the composite plates.
Rath and Sahu
From the above studies, it is concluded that the vibra-
tion behavior of woven fiber laminated composite
plates is greatly influenced by the geometry and lami-
nation parameter. Such a property can be utilized to
tailor the design of woven fiber laminated composite
plates in the hygrothermal environment.
Funding
This work was supported by the Department of Science and
Technology, New Delhi, India.
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Appendix 1

Read Plate Geometry

Material Properties
Hygrothermal parameters

Generate Nodal connectivity

Identification of DOF

Constitutive Matrix
Derivation of Shape functions
Strain displacement matrix

Element Stiffness Matrix

Element Mass matrix

Assembling

Overall Stiffness Matrix

Overall Mass matrix

Boundary conditions

Eigenvalue Solver

Natural frequencies of
vibration

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