Analysis of anisotropic prismatic sections

The dynamic behaviour of rotor blades is often modelled using one-dimensional beam analysis with equivalent mass and stiffness properties to those of the full blade. Calculation of accurate elastic stiffness terms for these arbitrarily shaped sections with differing material properties is vital to this process. A method which produces these properties using standard finite element analysis codes is presented. The method is then compared with theoretical results for a simple rectangular section beam and case studies are performed on a composite laminate and box-section.