Abstract

In the presented paper the equations of motion of a rotating composite Timoshenko beam are derived by utilising the Hamilton principle. The nonclassical effects like material anisotropy, transverse shear and both primary and secondary cross-section warpings are taken into account in the analysis. As an extension of the other papers known to the authors a nonconstant rotating speed and an arbitrary beam’s preset (pitch) angle are considered. It is shown that the
resulting general equations of motion are coupled together and form a nonlinear system of PDEs. Two cases of an open and closed box-beam cross-section made of symmetric laminate are analysed in details. It is shown that considering different pitch angles there is a strong effect in coupling of flapwise bending with chordwise bending motions due to a centrifugal force. Moreover, a consequence of terms related to nonconstant rotating speed is presented. Therefore it is shown that both the variable rotating speed and nonzero pitch angle have significant impact on systems dynamics and need to be considered in modelling of rotating beams.