Analysis of Laminated and FGM Beams using Various Theories

In this work, we present a comparison of some recently developed higher order theories for static and free vibration responses of laminated and functionally graded material (FGM) beams. The equations of motion are derived using Hamilton's principle. Analytical Fourier series solution taking first n terms is derived for beams having simply supported end conditions. A computer code in MATLAB has been developed and the results obtained are compared with 2D elasticity/finite element solution for laminated beam to assess the accuracy of various theories. A parametric study has been presented for deflection, stresses and natural frequencies of FG beams. (paper)