Free vibration analysis of curved asymmetric sandwich structures

This study deals with free vibration analysis of asymmetric sandwich structures that have different curvature angles. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam, carbon fiber, and glass fiber were used as the core and surface sheets of the sandwich structures, respectively. The finite element method is used for the study. Commercially available software ANSYS apdl is employed to investigate the vibration study of curved asymmetric sandwich structures. Firstly, the accuracy of the finite element method is determined by making a comparison with the literature. Following that, the first six natural frequencies of sandwich structures were obtained for various sandwich configurations to examine the effects of asymmetry and curvature angle on the sandwich structures' characteristics. To achieve that two different configurations of sandwich structures are modeled. Each configuration has 5 different sandwich structures whose curvature angles are 0,15,30,45 and 60 degrees. All of the sandwich structures were modeled and solved using ANSYS apdl. Results show the impact of asymmetry and curvature angles on sandwich structure free vibration behavior. Also, it was obtained that free vibration analysis of curved sandwich structure can be performed by the proposed method accurately, which is hard to obtain by the analytical method and expensive by the experimental method. Using this method one can investigate different scenarios in a short time. Also, one can use this method before production to see if it is good for application.