Dynamic modeling of a 3-D 4-directional braided composite beam with a central rigid body

Abstract

Although 3-D braided composites can be incorporated with rotating central body-beam systems, there are currently few dynamic models for the rotating systems made of braided composites. This paper proposes a dynamic model of a 3-D 4-directional braided composite beam with a central rigid body. Based on the Timoshenko beam hypothesis, the displacements of the composite beam are described by the arc-length coordinate, and the displacement field is represented by the slope angle, tensile strain, and shear angle. The assumed mode method is employed to discrete the displacement field, and the dynamic model of the system is derived from the Lagrange equation. The equivalent stiffness matrices of 3-D 4-directional braided composite beams with different braiding angles are obtained using the volume average method. The influences of different angular velocities, braiding angles, and beam section parameters on the system's dynamic characteristics are studied. The model proposed in this study can be utilized to estimate the dynamic responses of braided composite blades, and lays the theoretical foundation for analyzing dynamic characteristics of anisotropic beams in engineering.