A refined finite element method for bending analysis of laminated plates integrated with piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite actuators

This research presents a finite element formulation based on four-variable refined plate theory for bending analysis of cross-ply and angle-ply laminated composite plates integrated with a piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite actuator under electromechanical loading. The four-variable refined plate theory is a simple and efficient higher-order shear deformation theory, which predicts parabolic variation of transverse shear stresses across the plate thickness and satisfies zero traction conditions on the plate free surfaces. The weak form of governing equations is derived using the principle of minimum potential energy, and a 4-node non-conforming rectangular plate element with 8 degrees of freedom per node is introduced for discretizing the domain. Several benchmark problems are solved by the developed MATLAB code and the obtained results are compared with those from exact and other numerical solutions, showing good agreement.

THEORY OF NONLINEAR DYNAMIC STABILITY FOR COMPOSITE LAMINATED PLATES

In this paper, the general equations of dynamic stability for composite laminated plates are derived hyHamilton principle. These general equations can he used to consider those different factors that affect the dynamic stability of laminated plates. The factors are transverse shear deformation, initial imperfections, longitudinal and rotational inertia, and ply-angle of the fiber, etc. The solutions of the fundamental equations show that some important characteristics of the dynamic instability can only be got by the consideration and analysis of those factors

Free Vibration Analysis of Symmetrically Laminated Composite Plates on Elastic Foundation and Coupled with Stationary Fluid

Free vibration analysis of symmetrically laminated composite plates resting on Pasternak elastic support and coupled with an ideal, incompressible and inviscid fluid is the objective of the present work. The fluid domain is considered to be infinite in the length direction but bounded in the depth and width directions. In order to derive the eigenvalue equation, Rayleigh-Ritz method is applied for the fluid-plate-foundation system. The efficiency of the method is proved by comparison studies with those reported in the open literature. At the end, parametric studies are carried out to examine the impact of different parameters on the natural frequencies.

Optimization of buckling load for laminated composite plates using adaptive Kriging-improved PSO:A novel hybrid intelligent method

An effective hybrid optimization method is proposed by integrating an adaptive Kriging(A-Kriging)into an improved partial swarm optimization algorithm(IPSO)to give a so-called A-Kriging-IPSO for maximizing the buckling load of laminated composite plates(LCPs)under uniaxial and biaxial compressions.In this method,a novel iterative adaptive Kriging model,which is structured using two training sample sets as active and adaptive points,is utilized to directly predict the buckling load of the LCPs and to improve the efficiency of the optimization process.The active points are selected from the initial data set while the adaptive points are generated using the radial random-based convex samples.The cell-based smoothed discrete shear gap method(CS-DSG3)is employed to analyze the buckling behavior of the LCPs to provide the response of adaptive and input data sets.The buckling load of the LCPs is maximized by utilizing the IPSO algorithm.To demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed methodology,the LCPs with different layers(2,3,4,and 10 layers),boundary conditions,aspect ratios and load patterns(biaxial and uniaxial loads)are investigated.The results obtained by proposed method are in good agreement with the literature results,but with less computational burden.By applying adaptive radial Kriging model,the accurate optimal resultsebased predictions of the buckling load are obtained for the studied LCPs.

IDENTIFICATION OF STIFFNESS COEFFICIENTS OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES

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An advanced higher-order theory for laminated composite plates with general lamination angles

This paper proposes a higher-order shear deformation theory to predict the bending response of the laminated composite and sandwich plates with general lamination configurations.The proposed theory a priori satisfies the continuity conditions of transverse shear stresses at interfaces.Moreover,the number of unknown variables is independent of the number of layers.The first derivatives of transverse displacements have been taken out from the inplane displacement fields,so that the C 0 shape functions are only required during its finite element implementation.Due to C 0 continuity requirements,the proposed model can be conveniently extended for implementation in commercial finite element codes.To verify the proposed theory,the fournode C 0 quadrilateral element is employed for the interpolation of all the displacement parameters defined at each nodal point on the composite plate.Numerical results show that following the proposed theory,simple C 0 finite elements could accurately predict the interlaminar stresses of laminated composite and sandwich plates directly from a constitutive equation,which has caused difficulty for the other global higher order theories.

NONLINEAR DYNAMIC STABILITY OF COMPOSITE LAMINATED PLATES

Catastrophe theory was applied to the investigation of nonlinear dynamic stability of composite laminated plates. The influence of large deflection, initial imperfection, support conditions and ply_angle of the fibers were considered. The catastrophic models and the critical conditions of dynamic buckling of composite laminated plates are obtained.

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF DELAMINATION GROWTH FOR STIFFENED COMPOSITE LAMINATED PLATES

A study of postbuckling and delamination propagation behavior in delaminated stiffened composite plates was presented. A methodology was proposed for simulating the multi-failure responses, such as initial and postbuckling, delamination onset and propagation, etc. A finite element analysis was conducted on the basis of the Mindlin first order shear effect theory and the von-Krmn nonlinear deformation assumption. The total energy release rate used as the criteria of delamination growth was estimated with virtual crack closure technique (VCCT). A self-adaptive grid moving technology was adopted to model the delamination growth process. Moreover, the contact effect along delamination front was also considered during the numerical simulation process. By some numerical examples, the influence of distribution and location of stiffener, configuration and size of the delamination, boundary condition and contact effect upon the delamination growth behavior of the stiffened composite plates were investigated. The method and numerical conclusion provided should be of great value to engineers dealing with composite structures.

ITERATIVE METHOD FOR LARGE DEFLECTION NONLINEAR PROBLEM OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE SHALLOW SHELLS AND PLATES

Based on the results by Wang,in this paper, the iterative method is presented for the study of large deflection nonlinear problem of laminated composite shallow shells and plates. The rectangular laminated composite shallow shells have been analyzed. The results have been compared with the small deflection linear analytical solution and finite element nonlinear solution. The results proved that the solution coincide with small deflection linear analytical solution in the condition of the low loads and finite element nonlinear solution in the condition of the high loads.

The Hamilton System and Hamilton Type Generalized Variational Principle for the Laminated Composite Plates and Shells

By introducing the Hamilton theory and algorithms into the problems of laminated composite plates andshells, the Hamiltion type generalized variational principle is established, and the Hamilton canonical equations andthe boundary conditions for the static and elastoplastic analysis of composite plates are presented. With thetransformation of phase variables, the Hamilton canonical equations and their boundary conditions for thecylindrical shells and doubly curved shells in the curvilinear coordinate are given.

THE MIXED STATE HAMILTONIAN DYNAMIC ELEMENT AND A SEMI-ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THICK LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES

Through introducing the Laplace transformation in the time direction, the mixed state Hamilton canonical equation and a semi-analytical solution are presented for analyzing the dynamic response of laminated composite plates. This method accounts for the separation of variables, the finite element discretization can be employed in the plane of laminar, and the exact solution in the thickness direction is derived by the state space control method. To apply the transfer matrix method, the relational expression at the top and bottom surface is established. So the general solution in transformation space is deduced by the spot method. By the application of inversion of Laplace transformation, the transient displacements and stresses can be derived.

Prediction of Natural Frequency of Laminated Composite Plates Using Artificial Neural Networks

The paper is focused on the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) in predicting the natural frequency of laminated composite plates under clamped boundary condition. For training and testing of the ANN model, a number of finite element analyses have been carried out using D-optimal design in the design of experiments (DOE) by varying the fibre orientations, –45?, 0?, 45? and 90?. The composite plate is modeled using linear layered structural shell element. The natural frequencies were found by analyses which were done by finite element (FE) analysis software. The ANN model has been developed using multilayer perceptron (MLP) back propagation algorithm. The adequacy of the developed model is verified by coefficient of determination (R). It was found that the R2 (R: coefficient of determination) values are 1 and 0.998 for train and test data respectively. The results showed that, the training algorithm of back propagation was sufficient enough in predicting the natural frequency of laminated composite plates. To judge the ability and efficiency of the developed ANN model, absolute relative error has been used. The results predicted by ANN are in very good agreement with the finite element (FE) results. Consequently, the D-optimal design and ANN are shown to be effective in predicting the natural frequency of laminated composite plates.

Least Square Finite Element Model for Analysis of Multilayered Composite Plates under Arbitrary Boundary Conditions

Laminated composites are widely used in many engineering industries such as aircraft, spacecraft, boat hulls, racing car bodies, and storage tanks. We analyze the 3D deformations of a multilayered, linear elastic, anisotropic rectangular plate subjected to arbitrary boundary conditions on one edge and simply supported on other edge. The rectangular laminate consists of anisotropic and homogeneous laminae of arbitrary thicknesses. This study presents the elastic analysis of laminated composite plates subjected to sinusoidal mechanical loading under arbitrary boundary conditions. Least square finite element solutions for displacements and stresses are investigated using a mathematical model, called a state-space model, which allows us to simultaneously solve for these field variables in the composite structure’s domain and ensure that continuity conditions are satisfied at layer interfaces. The governing equations are derived from this model using a numerical technique called the least-squares finite element method (LSFEM). These LSFEMs seek to minimize the squares of the governing equations and the associated side conditions residuals over the computational domain. The model is comprised of layerwise variables such as displacements, out-of-plane stresses, and in- plane strains, treated as independent variables. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the response of the laminated composite plates under various arbitrary boundary conditions using LSFEM and compared with the 3D elasticity solution available in the literature.

Application of the quadrilateral area coordinate method:a new element for laminated composite plate bending problems

Recently, some new quadrilateral finite elements were successfully developed by the Quadrilateral Area Coordinate （QAC） method. Compared with those traditional models using isoparametric coordinates, these new models are less sensitive to mesh distortion. In this paper, a new displacement-based, 4-node 20-DOF （5-DOF per node） quadrilateral bending element based on the first-order shear deformation theory for analysis of arbitrary laminated composite plates is presented. Its bending part is based on the element AC-MQ4, a recent-developed high-performance Mindlin-Reissner plate element formulated by QAC method and the generalized conforming condition method; and its in-plane displacement fields are interpolated by bilinear shape functions in isoparametric coordinates. Furthermore, the hybrid post-rocessing procedure, which was firstly proposed by the authors, is employed again to improve the stress solutions, especially for the transverse shear stresses. The resulting element, denoted as AC-MQ4-LC, exhibits excellent performance in all linear static and dynamic numerical examples. It demonstrates again that the QAC method, the generalized conforming condition method, and the hybrid post-processing procedure are efficient tools for developing simple, effective and reliable finite element models.

Double Hopf bifurcation of composite laminated piezoelectric plate subjected to external and internal excitations

The double Hopf bifurcation of a composite laminated piezoelectric plate with combined external and internal excitations is studied. Using a multiple scale method, the average equations are obtained in two coordinates. The bifurcation response equations of the composite laminated piezoelectric plate with the primary parameter resonance, i.e., 1：3 internal resonance, are achieved. Then, the bifurcation feature of bifurcation equations is considered using the singularity theory. A bifurcation diagram is obtained on the parameter plane. Different steady state solutions of the average equations are analyzed. By numerical simulation, periodic vibration and quasi-periodic vibration responses of the Composite laminated piezoelectric plate are obtained.

NONLINEAR BUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF DAMAGED COMPOSITE SANDWICH PLATES CONSIDERING THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

On the basis of the first-order shear deformation plate theory andthe zig-zag deformation as- sumption, an incremental finite elementformulation for nonlinear buckling analysis of the composite sandwichplate is deduced and the temperature-dependent thermal and mechanicalproperties of composite is consid- ered. A finite element method forthermal or thermo-mechanical coupling nonlinear buckling analysis ofthe composite sandwich plate with an interfacial crack damage betweenface and core is also developed.

Time-varying nonlinear dynamics of a deploying piezoelectric laminated composite plate under aerodynamic force

Using Reddy’s high-order shear theory for laminated plates and Hamilton’s principle, a nonlinear partial differential equation for the dynamics of a deploying cantilevered piezoelectric laminated composite plate, under the combined action of aerodynamic load and piezoelectric excitation, is introduced. Two-degree of freedom(DOF)nonlinear dynamic models for the time-varying coefficients describing the transverse vibration of the deploying laminate under the combined actions of a first-order aerodynamic force and piezoelectric excitation were obtained by selecting a suitable time-dependent modal function satisfying the displacement boundary conditions and applying second-order discretization using the Galerkin method. Using a numerical method, the time history curves of the deploying laminate were obtained, and its nonlinear dynamic characteristics,including extension speed and different piezoelectric excitations, were studied. The results suggest that the piezoelectric excitation has a clear effect on the change of the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of such piezoelectric laminated composite plates. The nonlinear vibration of the deploying cantilevered laminate can be effectively suppressed by choosing a suitable voltage and polarity.

ANALYSIS OF INTER-LAMINAR STRESSES FOR COMPOSITE LAMINATED PLATE WITH INTERFACIAL DAMAGE

A constitutive model for composite laminated plates with the damage effect of the intra-layers and inter-laminar interface is presented. The model is based on the general six-degrees-of-freedom plate theory, the discontinuity of displacement on the interfaces are depicted by three shape functions, which are formulated according to solutions satisfying three equilibrium equations, By using the variation principle, the three-dimensional non-linear equilibrium differential equations of the laminated plates with two different damage models are derived. Then, considering a simply supported laminated plate with damage, an analytical solution is presented using finite difference method to obtain the inter-laminar stresses.

Analysis of Dynamic Structure-Fluid Interaction Response of a Floating Laminated Composite Plate

In consideration of the effects of transverse shear deformation and structure-fluid interaction, the analytical expression of fluid force between a floating laminated composite plate and liquid surface is obtained. By expanding the displacements into Fourier series, the structure-fluid coupling dynamic response is solved. The effects of lamination angle, layer number, depth of fluid region and loading forms on dynamic response are investigated.

Vibration characteristics and flutter analysis of a composite laminated plate with a store

The effects of an external store on the flutter characteristics of a composite laminated plate in a supersonic flow are investigated. The Dirac function is used to formulate the interaction between the plate and the store. The first-order piston theory is used to describe the aerodynamic load. The governing equation of the composite laminated plate with an external store is established based on the Hamilton principle. The mode shapes are constructed by the admissible functions which axe a set of characteristic orthogonal polynomials generated directly by the Gram-Schmidt process, and the boundary constraint is modeled as the artificial springs. The frequency and mode shapes of the plate under different boundaries are determined by the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The validity of the proposed approach is confirmed by comparing the results with those obtained from the finite element method （FEM）. The effects of the mounting position, the center of gravity position and the mounting points spacing of the external store on the flutter boundary are discussed for both the simply supported and cantilever plates, respectively, which correspond to the two installation sites of the external store, i.e., the belly and wings of the aircraft.