Free Vibration Analysis of a Cross-Ply Laminated Composite Beam on Pasternak Foundation

In this study, free vibration analysis of a cross-ply laminated composite beam (LCB) on Pasternak foundation was investigated. Natural frequencies of beam on Pasternak foundation are computed using finite element method (FEM) on the basis of Timoshenko beam theory. Effect of both shear deformation and rotary inertia are implemented in the modeling of stiffness and mass matrices. The model was designed in such a way that it can be used for single-stepped cross-section, stepped foundation and multi-span beams. Results of few examples are compared with finding in literature and good agreements were achieved. Natural frequencies of LCBs with different layers arrangements (symmetric and non-symmetric) are compared. For multi-span beam, variation of frequency with respect to number of spans was also studied.