*2.4. A Finite-Element (FE) Model*

A three-dimensional FFU composite beam model under free-free boundary conditions has been developed to study its dynamic response and compare with the experimental results. The Strand7 software [46] is used to model this 3D simulation, which employs 60 Euler–Bernoulli beam elements with 61 nodes, due to the model acting as a shallow beam. Figure 6 demonstrates the three-dimensional finite element model of a FFU composite beam. The modification for the geometric and material characteristics of these components has been based on the experimental data. The engineering properties are presented in Table 3 [47,48].



**Table 3.** Geometric parameters employed in the dynamic simulation.
