Natural frequency response of laminated hybrid composite beams with and without cutouts

This study deals with the effect of hybridization on the natural frequency of woven laminated hybrid composite beams with and without cutouts under the clamped-free boundary condition. Woven carbon, Kevlar and S-glass fibers with epoxy were used for the production of hybrid composites. Natural frequencies of the hybrid composite beams were experimentally determined for [(0/90)(3)](S) stacking sequence. Numerical analyses were performed to investigate the influences of fiber orientation angles, circular and rectangular cutouts, cutout size ratios and positions on natural frequency. Good agreement between experimental and numerical results was found from a comparison of natural frequencies. The results shows that the fiber type used in the layers, cutout size and position on the beam strongly effects the natural frequency.