An Experimental Investigation on Free Vibrational Analysis of Natural Fiber Hybrid Composite Plates and Fiber Metal Laminate Composite Plate

This study presents a combined numerical and experimental investigation of the free vibration behavior of flax and areca fiber reinforced hybrid composite plates and a titanium E-glass fiber metal laminate (FML) plate. Three square five-layer plates were fabricated using the hand lay-up technique and evaluated under CFFF and CFCF boundary conditions. The flax–areca hybrid laminates were prepared with F/A/A/A/F and A/F/F/F/A stacking sequences, while the FML plate employed a symmetric Ti/GF-E/GF-E/GF-E/Ti configuration. All laminates were arranged with a [0°/90°/0°/90°/0°] fiber orientation. Numerical free vibration analysis was performed using the Finite Element Method in ANSYS APDL 19.2 to determine natural frequencies and mode shapes. Experimental modal analysis was conducted using an impact hammer technique, with vibration responses processed through SUMURAI and ME'scope software. Excellent agreement was observed between numerical and experimental results. The flax–areca hybrid composites exhibited lower natural frequencies, where as the titanium E-glass FML plate demonstrated higher stiffness and superior vibration resistance, indicating their suitability for lightweight automotive and aerospace structural applications.