Modal vibration damping of anisotropic FRP laminates using the Rayleigh-Ritz energy minimization scheme

The Rayleigh-Ritz method has been used for computing the modal damping of structural orthotropic materials, including anisotropic laminates, in free vibration. Comparison of the theoretical results has been made with experimental data obtained from tests on freely held plates, and with the results obtained from the finite element method. It has been shown that the Rayleigh Ritz scheme can be used to predict accurately the modal damping of thin rectangular plates, and that its prediction of modal characteristics of such plates correlates closely with that of the finite element method. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.