Dynamics of a generally layered composite beam with single delamination based on the shear deformation theory

Abstract The free vibration analysis of generally laminated composite beam (LCB) with a delamination is presented using the finite element method (FEM). The effect of material couplings (bending-tension, bending-twist, and tension-twist couplings) with the effects of shear deformation, rotary inertia, and Poisson’s effect are taken into account. To verify the validity and the accuracy of this study, the numerical solutions are presented and compared with the results from available references and very good agreement observed. Furthermore, the effects of some parameters such as slenderness ratio, the rotary inertia, the shear deformation, material anisotropy, ply configuration, and delamination parameters on the natural frequency of the delaminated beam are examined.