Vibration and buckling analysis of a curved sandwich composite beam with FEM

In this study, a stress analysis and free vibration analysis were carried out for a curved sandwich composite beam. The curved composite beam was manufactured using glass fibers and vinylester resin. The polyvinylchloride (PVC) foam was preferred in the manufacturing of the sandwich composite beam for obtaining desired structure. The effect of the root and vertical cracks on the stress distribution and critical buckling loads for a curved composite sandwich beam were investigated numerically. The vibration analysis was performed experimentally and numerically. Experimental and numerical results were in a good agreement for the in-plane vibrations. It was seen that, the critical buckling forces changed not uniformly for the transverse crack and also, buckling loads decreased with increasing root crack length.