THE INFLUENCE OF COUPLING ON THE FREE-VIBRATION OF ANISOTROPIC THIN-WALLED CLOSED-SECTION BEAMS

A solution procedure for thin-walled laminated composite beams is pres ented. Two configurations are considered, producing extension-twist an d bending-twist coupling, respectively. The influence of coupling on t he characteristic equations for free vibration is isolated. It is show n that the characteristic determinant for extension-twist coupling can be expressed as the product of the two decoupled ones. For the case o f bending-twist coupling, a simple-quasi-decoupled procedure is develo ped. This model is shown to provide accurate predictions for natural f requencies of practical interest for slender, laminated composite box beams. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.