An experimental study on free vibration of nanostructured laminated beams

Abstract- This paper presents an experimental research on the influence of nanoclay on free vibration of composite beams. In this study hybrid nanocomposite beams were manufactured from laminates of 4-layers woven roving E-glass fiber in the epoxy resin made by hand lay-up technique. The nanoclay is dispersed into the epoxy resin in 3, 5 and 7wt% via sonication. Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis was carried out on nanocomposite samples. The results showed partial exfoliation and intercalation of clay in specimens containing 3wt% nanoclay and also agglomeration in 7wt% nanoclay containing samples. Natural frequency of the nanocomposite beams was determined via microphone measurement of air pressure variation. The results showed that the nanoclay dispersion in the matrix and E-glass fiber increase the beam’s natural frequencies especially in the samples containing 3wt% nanoclay. Keywords - , , , , .