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The present study involves frequency-driven exploration of bi-directional, industry-driven, laminated composite glass/epoxy beams by experimental and finite element analysis. The experimental vibration responses were ensured through a vibration first Fourier transform (FFT) analyzer. The finite element predictions were made using MATLAB platform by developing a programmable computer code accounting for shear deformation. The results conclude that the free-vibration finite element predictions for glass/epoxy beams are sensitive to effects of different boundary conditions and span-to-thickness ratios. The present study will assist in our understanding of modal behaviour towards design and service of laminated beams in the frequency domain and can serve as experimental benchmark results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on developing and implementing Mamdani hybrid fuzzy logic inference system (FIS) for transverse crack detection and fault diagnosis in a woven fiber laminated glass/epoxy composite beam using different vibration modes of natural frequencies. The shifting of vibration is attributed to the implication of cracks. These vibration signatures are fuzzified through hybrid fuzzy sets (triangular, trapezoidal, Gaussian) and scaled to crack location and depth using the fuzzy rules and defuzzification process. The vibration signatures are recorded using ABAQUS finite element (FE) simulation software for a fixed beam and are fed as input parameters to the developed FIS for computing the desired outputs. The realization for crack depth and position is experimentally verified through a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analyzer. The experimental results with simulated data show that fuzzy logic application detects crack positions and depth accurately at different levels. It is concluded that the hybrid FIS bears a close resemblance to the experimental analysis and also stands out as an effective method for crack detection in LCB over other standalone methods. The current method can be used as a cost-effective non-destructive technique for health monitoring and fault diagnosis of composite beam structures in any practical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]