On the Viscoelastic Response of Composite Laminates.

The present work deals with the determination of theviscoelastic properties of composite laminates based on the viscoelasticbehaviour of the single lamina. A viscoelastic lamination theory isdeveloped assuming that the lamina stiffness matrix is fully complex andfrequency dependent. For the measurement of the complete setof frequency dependent viscoelastic properties of the single lamina(i.e. complex moduli and Poisson's ratio) a new methodology has beenintroduced, based on the free and forced vibration of unidirectional and[45/−45] _ns composite laminates. Allmeasurements have been performed both in air and in vacuum. Since thevibration amplitude was very small, in order to fulfil linearityrequirements, the results do not show any significant difference due toair damping. The effects of experimental errors on theevaluation of the viscoelastic properties of the single lamina have alsobeen discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]