Free vibration and stability of laminated composite circular arches subjected to initial axial stress

Natural frequencies and buckling stresses of laminated composite circular arches subjected to initial axial stress are analyzed by taking into account the complete effects of transverse shear and normal stresses and rotatory inertia. By using the method of power series expansion of displacement components, a set of fundamental dynamic equations of a one-dimensional higher order theory for laminated composite circular arches subjected to initial axial stress is derived through Hamiltonʹs principle. Several sets of truncated approximate theories are applied to solve the eigenvalue problems of a simply supported circular arch. In order to assure the accuracy of the present theory, convergence properties of the first four natural frequencies are examined in detail. Numerical results are compared with those of the published existing theories. The present global higher order approximate theories can predict the natural frequencies and buckling stresses of multilayered circular arches accurately with a small number of unknowns.