DAMPING CHARACTERIZATION OF UNIDIRECTIONAL FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES

The main concern of this paper is the modelling of material damping in composite structures. A method is derived to predict the homogenized damping properties analytically. The procedure is based on the microme chanical theory of a representative fibre-matrix cell. Since the dissi pative phenomena cannot generally be defined;by a unique mathematical model, an equivalent viscous damping model is suggested. On the struct ural level damping can be analysed by the finite element method. Modal damping is illustrated by numerical applications.