Modelling the vibration of sandwich beams using frequency-dependent parameters

Various types of sandwich beams with foam or honeycomb cores are currently used in the industry, indicating the need for simple methods describing the dynamics of these complex structures. By implementing frequency-dependent parameters, the vibration of sandwich composite beams can be approximated using simple fourth-order beam theory. A higher-order sandwich beam model is utilized in order to obtain estimates of the frequency-dependent bending stiffness and shear modulus of the equivalent Bernoulli–Euler and Timoshenko models. The resulting predicted eigenfrequencies and transfer accellerance functions are compared to the data obtained from the higher-order model and from measurements.