A finite element (FE) model is developed to study the free vibration of a rotating laminated composite beam with a single delamination. The rotary inertia and shear deformation effects, as well as the bending-extension, bending-twist and extension-twist coupling terms are taken into account in the FE model. Comparison between the numerical results of the present model and the results published in the literature verifies the validity of the present model. Furthermore, the effects of various parameters, such as delamination size and location, fiber orientation, hub radius, material anisotropy and rotating speed, on the vibration of the beam are studied in detail. These results provide useful information in the study of the free vibration of rotating delaminated composite beams. Ó 2015 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).