• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.513-543
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• 2016

Third order shear deformation theory is used to evaluate electro-elastic solution of a sandwich plate with considering functionally graded (FG) core and composite face sheets made of piezoelectric layers. The plate is resting on the Pasternak foundation and subjected to normal pressure. Short circuited condition is applied on the top and bottom of piezoelectric layers. The governing differential equations of the system can be derived using Hamilton's principle and Maxwell's equation. The Navier's type solution for a sandwich rectangular thick plate with all edges simply supported is used. The numerical results are presented in terms of varying the parameters of the problem such as two elastic foundation parameters, thickness ratio ($h_p/2h$), and power law index on the dimensionless deflection, critical buckling load, electric potential function, and the natural frequency of sandwich rectangular thick plate. The results show that the dimensionless natural frequency and critical buckling load diminish with an increase in the power law index, and vice versa for dimensionless deflection and electrical potential function, because of the sandwich thick plate with considering FG core becomes more flexible; while these results are reverse for thickness ratio.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.199-222
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• 2007

Composite laminated structures supported on elastic foundations are being increasingly used in a great variety of engineering applications. Composites exhibit larger dispersion in their material properties compared to the conventional materials due to large number of parameters associated with their manufacturing and fabrication processes. And also the dispersion in elastic foundation stiffness parameter is inherent due to inaccurate modeling and determination of elastic foundation properties in practice. For a better modeling of the material properties and foundation, these are treated as random variables. This paper deals with effects of randomness in material properties and foundation stiffness parameters on the free vibration response of laminated composite plate resting on an elastic foundation. A $C^0$ finite element method has been used for arriving at an eigen value problem. Higher order shear deformation theory has been used to model the displacement field. A mean centered first order perturbation technique has been employed to handle randomness in system properties for obtaining the stochastic characteristic of frequency response. It is observed that small amount of variations in random material properties and foundation stiffness parameters significantly affect the free vibration response of the laminated composite plate. The results have been compared with those available in the literature and an independent Monte Carlo simulation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.677-687
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• 2017

The nonlinear buckling response of nano composite anti-symmetric functionally graded polymeric microplate reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) rested on orthotropic elastomeric foundation with temperature dependent properties is investigated. For the carbon-nanotube reinforced composite (CNTRC) microplate, a uniform distribution (UD) and four types of functionally graded (FG) distribution are considered. Based on orthotropic Mindlin plate theory, von Karman geometric nonlinearity and Hamilton's principle, the governing equations are derived. Generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is employed to calculate the non-linear buckling response of the plate. Effects of FG distribution type, elastomeric foundation, aspect ratio (thickness to width ratio), boundary condition, orientation of foundation orthotropy and temperature are considered. The results are validated. It is found that the critical buckling load without elastic medium is significantly lower than considering Winkler and Pasternak medium.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.185-193
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• 2020

Nonlinear vibration of sandwich plate with functionally graded material (FGM) core and carbon nano tubes reinforced (CNTs) nano-composite layers by considering temperature-dependent material properties are studied in this paper. Base on Classical plate theory (CPT), the governing partial differential equations of motion for sandwich plate are derived using Hamilton principle. The Galerkin procedure and multiple scales perturbation method are used to find relation between nonlinear frequency and amplitude of vibration response. The dynamic responses of the sandwich plate are also investigated in both time and frequency domains. Then, the effects of nonlinearity, excitation, power law index of FG core, volume fraction of carbon nanotube, the function of material variations of FG core, temperature changes, scale transformation parameter and damping factor on the frequency responses are investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.657-674
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• 2009

In this paper a 3-D continuum damage mechanics formulation for composite laminates and its implementation into a finite element model that is based on the layer-wise laminate plate theory are described. In the damage formulation, each composite ply is treated as a homogeneous orthotropic material exhibiting orthotropic damage in the form of distributed microscopic cracks that are normal to the three principal material directions. The progressive damage of different angle ply composite laminates under quasi-static loading that exhibit the free edge effects are investigated. The effects of various numerical modeling parameters on the progressive damage response are investigated. It will be shown that the dominant damage mechanism in the lay-ups of [+30/-30]s and [+45/-45]s is matrix cracking. However, the lay-up of [+15/-15] may be delaminated in the vicinity of the edges and at $+{\theta}/-{\theta}$ layers interfaces.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

Despite the exceptional mechanical properties of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the effective properties of CNT-reinforced composites remain below expectations. The composite's microstructure has been identified as a key factor in explaining this discrepancy. In this contribution, a method for generating representative volume elements of aligned CNT sheets is presented. The model captures material characteristics such as random waviness and entanglement of individual nanotubes. Thus it allows studying microstructural effects on the composite's effective properties. Simulations investigating the strengthening effect of the application of a pre-stretch on the CNTs are carried out and found to be in very good agreement with experimental values. They highlight the importance of the nanotube's waviness and entanglement for the mechanical behavior of the composite. The presented representative volume elements are the first to accurately capture the waviness and entanglement of CNT sheets for realistically high volume fractions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.741-759
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• 2020

Steel plate-concrete composite slabs provide attractive features, such as more effective loading transfer, and more cost-effective stay-in-place forms, thereby enabling engineers to design more high-performance light structures. Although significant studies in the literatures have been directed toward designing and implementing the steel plate-concrete composite beams, there are limited data available for understanding of the composite slabs. To fill this gap, nine the composite slabs with different variables in this study were tested to unveil the impacts of the critical factors on the ultimate strength behavior. The key information of the findings included sample failure modes, crack pattern, and ultimate strength behavior of the composite slabs under either four-point or three-point loading. Test results showed that the failure modes varied from delamination to shear failures under different design factors. Particularly, the shear stud spacing and thicknesses of the concrete slabs significantly affected their ultimate load-carrying capacities. Moreover, an analytical model of the composite slabs was derived for determining their ultimate load-carrying capacity and was well verified by the experimental data. Further extensive parametric study using the proposed analytical methods was conducted for a more comprehensive investigation of those critical factors in their performance. These findings are expected to help engineers to better understand the structural behavior of the steel plate-concrete composite slabs and to ensure reliability of design and performance throughout their service life.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.75-95
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• 2003

A numerical model is presented to simulate the mechanical behaviour of composite steel and concrete columns taking into account the interaction between the hollow steel section and the concrete core. The model, based on displacement finite element methods with an Updated Lagrangian formulation, allows for geometrical and material non linearities combined with heating over all or a part of the section and column length. Comparisons of numerical calculations made using the model with 33 fire resistance tests show that the model is able to predict the fire resistance, expressed in minutes of fire exposure, of composite columns with a good accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 2017

In this study, the failure behavior of composite material in the biaxial and off-axis loading is studied based on a computational micromechanical model. The model is developed so that the combination of mechanical and thermal loading conditions can be considered in the analysis. The modified generalized plane strain assumption of the theory of elasticity is used for formulation of the micromechanical modeling of the problem. A truly meshless method is employed to solve the governing equation and predict the distribution of micro-stresses in the selected RVE of composite. The fiber matrix interface is assumed to be perfect until the interface failure occurs. The biaxial and off-axis loading of the SiC/Ti and Kevlar/Epoxy composite is studied. The failure envelopes of SiC/Ti and Kevlar/Epoxy composite in off-axis loading, biaxial transverse-transverse and axial-transverse loading are predicted based on the micromechanical approach. Various failure criteria are considered for fiber, matrix and fiber-matrix interface. Comparison of results with the available results in the litreture shows excellent agreement with experimental studies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.733-751
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• 2007

The metis element method (Hung 1978) has been applied to analyse free edge interlaminar stresses and delamination in composite laminates, which are subjected to extension and bending. The paper recalls Lekhnitskii's solution for generalized plane strain state of composite laminate and Wang's singular solution for determination of stress singularity order and of eigen coefficients $C_m$ for delamination problem. Then the formulae of metis displacement finite element in two-dimensional problem are established. Computation of the stress intensity factors and the energy release rates are presented in details. The energy release rate, G, is computed by Irwin's virtual crack technique using metis elements. Finally, results of interlaminar stresses, the three stress intensity factors and the energy release rates for delamination crack in composite laminates under extension and bending are illustrated and compared with the literature to demonstrate the efficiency of the present method.