Influence of Fibre Orientation on the Dynamic Behaviour of Rotating Laminated Composite Blades

A finite element technique is used to investigate the free-vibration characteristics of rotating laminated composite blades. The structure is discretized using a multilayered degenerated-solid shell element. Because of the geometry and the loading, a geometrically non-linear analysis is required. The model is applied to an advanced propeller geometry (propfan). Both titanium and composite materials with different stacking sequences are considered and compared. Natural frequencies, mode shapes and structural damping are computed in all cases. The significant potential variation of these quantities emphasizes the interest of using tailoring techniques to control the behaviour of composite blades. Some possible limits of automatic tailoring techniques are highlighted. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.