Interaction curves for vibration and buckling of thin-walled composite box beams under axial loads and end moments

Interaction curves for vibration and buckling of thin-walled composite box beams with arbitrary lay-ups under constant axial loads and equal end moments are presented. This model is based on the classical lamination theory, and accounts for all the structural coupling coming from material anisotropy. The governing differential equations are derived from the Hamilton’s principle. The resulting coupling is referred to as triply flexural–torsional coupled vibration and buckling. A displacement-based one-dimensional finite element model with seven degrees of freedoms per node is developed to solve the problem. Numerical results are obtained for thin-walled composite box beams to investigate the effects of axial force, bending moment, fiber orientation on the buckling loads, buckling moments, natural frequencies and corresponding vibration mode shapes as well as axial-moment–frequency interaction curves.