The beam structure finds itsapplications in various fields such as the aviation sector, wind industries, mechanical and civil fields. In these fields, a cantilever beam is one of the most common structuralelement. For a successful mechanical design structure, proper material selection is one of the most vital factor. In this study, a numerical approach has been carried out to investigate the free vibration and static structural analysis of rectangular shape cantilever beam with different materials such as structural steel, carbon fiber/epoxy, glass fiber/epoxy. A comparative study of finite element analysis such as natural frequency, Von-mises stress, and deformation has been accomplished for structural steel, carbon fiber/epoxy, and glass fiber/epoxy. Also, a magnificent weight reduction is demonstrated for composite material. Here, carbon fiber and glass fiber have been considered as fiber and resin epoxy is considered as matrix. At Ansys ACP, for the composite material, twelve layers of lamina has been considered for carbon fiber/epoxy and glass fiber/epoxy. Unidirectional laminas are used in laminated composite layups. The stacking sequence is considered [00]12 and the lamina thickness is 0.5mm for both composite materials. The result of this study can be applied to select the best material for cantilever type beam structure under static and dynamic loading conditions.

Composite material, Ansys ACP, FEA, Cantilever beam, Weight reduction, Natural frequencies, Modal analysis, Static structural analysis