DYNAMIC-RESPONSE OF TAPERED COMPOSITE BEAMS USING HIGHER-ORDER SHEAR DEFORMATION-THEORY

Harmonic response of tapered composite beams is investiaged by using a finite element model based on a higher order shear deformation theory . Only uniaxial bending is considered and the interlaminar shear stres ses are neglected. The Poisson ratio effect is incorporated in the for mulation of beam constitutive equations. The effect of in-plane inerti a and rotary inertia is also considered in the formulation of the mass matrix. A parametric study is done of the influence of anisotropy, ta per profile and taper parameter. Linearly and parabolically varying th ickness variations of increasing, decreasing, decreasing-increasing an d increasing-decreasing type are used. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited