This paper presents an analytical investigation of the free vibrations of a cracked Timoshenko beam made up of functionally graded materials (FGMs). It is assumed that the beam is constructed of FGM materials with a power law variation of metal-ceramic volume fraction. The perspective of wave method is adopted for the analysis. The method considers the nature of the propagation and reflection of the waves along the beam. Consequently, the propagation, transmission and reflection matrices for various discontinuities located on the beam are derived. Such discontinuities may include crack, boundaries or change in section. By combining these matrices a global frequency matrix is formed. In order to investigate the effect of the beam’s structural synthesis, different natural frequencies are obtained and studied.

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