A comparative study of composite structures reinforced with carbon, glass or natural fibers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a comparative study between different structures composed of fiber-reinforced composite materials. Plates, cylinders and cylindrical and spherical shell panels in symmetric 0°/90°/0° and antisymmetric 0°/90°/0°/90° configurations are analyzed considering carbon fiber, glass fiber and linoleum fiber reinforcements. Design/methodology/approach A free vibration analysis is proposed for different materials, lamination sequences, vibration modes, half-wave numbers and thickness ratios. Such an analysis is conducted by means of an exact three-dimensional shell model which is valid for simply supported structures and cross-ply laminations. The employed model is based on a layer-wise approach and on three-dimensional shell equilibrium equations written in general orthogonal curvilinear coordinates. Findings The proposed study confirms the well-known superiority of the carbon fiber-reinforced composites. Linoleum fiber-reinforced composites prove to be comparable to glass fiber-reinforced composites in the case of free vibration analysis. Therefore, similar frequencies are obtained for all the geometries, thickness ratios, laminations sequences, vibration modes and a large spectrum of half-wave numbers. This partial conclusion needs further confirmations via static, buckling and fatigue analyses. Originality/value An exact three-dimensional shell model has been used to compare several geometries embedding carbon fiber composites and natural fiber composites.