• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.13-29
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• 2019

This work presents the buckling investigation of functionally graded plates resting on two parameter elastic foundations by using a new hyperbolic plate theory. The main advantage of this theory is that, in addition to including the shear deformation effect, the displacement field is modelled with only four unknowns and which is even less than the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) by introducing undetermined integral terms, hence it is unnecessary to use shear correction factors. The governing equations are derived using Hamilton's principle and solved using Navier's steps. The validation of the proposed theoretical model is performed to demonstrate the efficacy of the model. The effects of various parameters like the Winkler and Pasternak modulus coefficients, inhomogeneity parameter, aspect ratio and thickness ratio on the behaviour of the functionally graded plates are studied. It can be concluded that the present theory is not only accurate but also simple in predicting the critical buckling loads of functionally graded plates on elastic foundation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.147-161
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• 2023

Based on the ideas of variational differential quadrature (VDQ) and finite element method (FEM), a numerical approach named as VDQFEM is applied herein to study the large deformations of plate-type structures under static loading with arbitrary shape hole made of functionally graded graphene platelet-reinforced composite (FG-GPLRC) in the context of higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The material properties of composite are approximated based upon the modified Halpin-Tsai model and rule of mixture. Furthermore, various FG distribution patterns are considered along the thickness direction of plate for GPLs. Using novel vector/matrix relations, the governing equations are derived through a variational approach. The matricized formulation can be efficiently employed in the coding process of numerical methods. In VDQFEM, the space domain of structure is first transformed into a number of finite elements. Then, the VDQ discretization technique is implemented within each element. As the last step, the assemblage procedure is performed to derive the set of governing equations which is solved via the pseudo arc-length continuation algorithm. Also, since HSDT is used herein, the mixed formulation approach is proposed to accommodate the continuity of first-order derivatives on the common boundaries of elements. Rectangular and circular plates under various boundary conditions with circular/rectangular/elliptical cutout are selected to generate the numerical results. In the numerical examples, the effects of geometrical properties and reinforcement with GPL on the nonlinear maximum deflection-transverse load amplitude curve are studied.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.495-508
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• 2018

In this paper, the effect of matrix cracks on the buckling of a hybrid laminated plate is investigated. The plate is composed of carbon nanotube reinforced functionally graded (CNTR-FG) layers and conventional fiber reinforced composite (FRC) layers. Different distributions of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) through the thickness of layers are considered. The cracks are modeled as aligned slit cracks across the ply thickness and transverse to the laminate plane, and the distribution of cracks is assumed statistically homogeneous corresponding to an average crack density. The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is employed to incorporate the effects of rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation, and the meshless kp-Ritz method is used to obtain the buckling solutions. Detailed parametric studies are conducted to investigate the effects of matrix crack density, CNTs distributions, CNT volume fraction, plate aspect ratio and plate length-to-thickness ratio, boundary conditions and number of layers on buckling behaviors of hybrid laminated plates containing CNTR-FG layers.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.289-297
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• 2020

In the present research post-buckling of a cut out plate reinforced through carbon nanotubes (CNTs) resting on an elastic foundation is studied. Material characteristics of CNTs are hypothesized to be altered within thickness orientation which are calculated according to Mori-Tanaka model. For modeling the system mathematically, first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is applied and using energy procedure, the governing equations can be derived. With respect to Rayleigh-Ritz procedure as well as Newton-Raphson iterative scheme, the motion equations are solved and therefore, post-buckling behavior of structure will be tracked. Diverse parameters as well as their reactions on post-buckling paths focusing cut out measurement, CNT's volume fraction and agglomeration, dimension of plate and an elastic foundation are investigated. It is revealed that presence of a square cut out can affect negatively post-buckling behavior of structure. Moreover, adding nanocompsits in the matrix leads to enhancement of post-buckling response of system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.619-637
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• 2005

The objective of this research was to determine the Vlasov soil parameters for quadratically varying elasticity modulus $E_s$(z) of the compressible soil continuum and discuss the interaction affect between two close plates. Interaction problem carried on for uniformly distributed load carrying plates. Plate region was simulated by Kirchhoff plate theory based (mixed or displacement type) 2D elements and the foundation continuum was simulated by displacement type 2D elements. At the contact region, plate and foundation elements were geometrically coupled with each other. In this study the necessary formulas for the Vlasov parameters were derived when Young's modulus of the soil continuum was varying as a quadratic function of z-coordinate through the depth of the foundation. In the examples, first the elements and the iterative FE algorithm was verified and later the results of quadratic variation of $E_s$(z) were compared with the previous examples in order to discuss the general behavior. As a final example two plates close to each other resting on elastic foundation were handled to see their interaction influences on the Vlasov foundation parameters. Original examples were solved using both mixed and displacement type plate elements in order to confirm the results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.6
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• pp.765-778
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• 2023

This study investigates the free vibration and buckling analyses of isotropic curved plate structures fixed at all ends. The Kirchhoff-Love Plate Theory (KLPT) and Finite Element Method (FEM) are employed to model the curved structure. In order to perform the finite element analysis, a four-node quadrilateral element with 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) at each node is utilized. Additionally, the drilling effect (θ_z) is considered as minimal to satisfy the DOF of the structure. Lagrange's equation of motion is used in order to obtain the first ten natural frequencies and the critical buckling values of the structure. The effects of various radii of curvatures and aspect ratio on the natural frequency and critical buckling load values for the single-bay and two-bay curved frames are investigated within this scope. A computer code based on finite element analysis is developed to perform free vibration and buckling analysis of curved plate frames. The natural frequency and critical buckling load values of the present study are compared with ANSYS R18.2 results. It has been concluded that the results of the present study are in good agreement with ANSYS results for different radii of curvatures and aspect ratio values of both single-bay and two-bay structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.41-58
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• 2004

The postbuckling behaviour of thin shells has fascinated researchers because the theoretical prediction and their experimental verification are often different. In reality, shell panels possess small imperfections and these can cause large reduction in static buckling strength. This is more relevant in thin laminated composite shells. To study the postbuckling behaviour of thin, imperfect laminated composite shells using finite elements, explicit incremental or secant matrices have been presented in this paper. These incremental matrices which are derived using Marguerre's shallow shell theory can be used in combination with any thin plate/shell finite element (Classical Laminated Plate Theory - CLPT) and can be easily extended to the First Order Shear deformation Theory (FOST). The advantage of the present formulation is that it involves no numerical approximation in forming total potential energy of the shell during large deformations as opposed to earlier approximate formulations published in the literature. The initial imperfection in shells could be modeled by simply adjusting the ordinate of the shell forms. The present formulation is very easy to implement in any existing finite element codes. The secant matrices presented in this paper are shown to be very accurate in tracing the postbuckling behaviour of thin isotropic and laminated composite shells with general initial imperfections.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.329-348
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• 2016

This work presents a simple hyperbolic shear deformation theory for analysis of functionally graded plates resting on elastic foundation. The proposed model contains fewer number of unknowns and equations of motion than the first-order shear deformation model, but the transverse shear stresses account for a hyperbolic variation and respect the tangential stress-free boundary conditions on the plate boundary surface without introducing shear correction factors. Equations of motion are obtained from Hamilton's principle. The Navier-type analytical solutions for simply-supported plates are compared with the existing solutions to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed theory.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.9-34
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• 2017

In this work, an efficient and simple quasi-3D hyperbolic shear deformation theory is developed for bending and vibration analyses of functionally graded (FG) plates resting on two-parameter elastic foundation. The significant feature of this theory is that, in addition to including the thickness stretching effect, it deals with only 5 unknowns as the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The foundation is described by the Pasternak (two-parameter) model. The material properties of the plate are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Equations of motion for thick FG plates are obtained within the Hamilton's principle. Analytical solutions for the bending and free vibration analysis are obtained for simply supported plates. The numerical results are given in detail and compared with the existing works such as 3-dimensional solutions and those predicted by other plate theories. It can be concluded that the present theory is not only accurate but also simple in predicting the bending and free vibration responses of functionally graded plates resting on elastic foundation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.119-132
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• 2020

In this study a new innovative three unknowns trigonometric shear deformation theory is proposed for the buckling and vibration responses of exponentially graded sandwich plates resting on elastic mediums under various boundary conditions. The key feature of this theoretical formulation is that, in addition to considering shear deformation effect, it has only three unknowns in the displacement field as in the case of the classical plate theory (CPT), contrary to five as in the first shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). Material characteristics of the sandwich plate faces are considered to vary within the thickness direction via an exponential law distribution as a function of the volume fractions of the constituents. Equations of motion are obtained by employing Hamilton's principle. Numerical results for buckling and free vibration analysis of exponentially graded sandwich plates under various boundary conditions are obtained and discussed. Verification studies confirmed that the present three -unknown shear deformation theory is comparable with higher-order shear deformation theories which contain a greater number of unknowns.