• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2004

This study deals with free vibrations of laminated composite structures with a channel section using finite element method. In this paper, the mixed finite element method using Lagrangian and Hermite interpolation functions is adopted and a high-order plate theory is used to analyze laminated composite non-prismatic folded plates with a channel section more accurately for free vibration. The theory accounts for parabolic distribution of the transverse shear stress and requires no shear correction factors supposed in the first-order plate theory. An 32×32 matrix is assembled to transform the system element matrices from the local to global coordinates using a coordinate transformation matrix, in which an eighth drilling degree of freedom (DOF) per node is appended to the existing 7-DOF system. The results in this study are compared with those of available literatures for the conventional and first-order plate theory. Sample studies are carried out for various layup configurations and length-thickness ratio, and geometric shapes of plates. The significance of the high-order plate theory in analyzing complex composite structures with a channel section is enunciated in this paper.