• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.6
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• pp.765-777
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• 2021

Recently, the plate bending analysis has been interpreted in terms of the tensor's components of curvatures and bending moments by presenting the conceptual perspectives of the Hydrostatic Method of Analysis (HM) and theoretical formulations that combine the continuum mechanics with the graphical statics analysis, the theory of thin orthotropic and isotropic plates, and the elasticity theory. In pursuance of uncovering a genuine formulation of the plate's flexural differential equations, that possess the general-covariance and coordinates-independency. This study had then, tackled various natural and structural problems in both solid and fluid branches of the continuum mechanics in a description of such theoretical and conceptual attainment in uncovering the dimensional independent diffeomorphism covariant partial differential laws.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.837-859
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• 2016

An efficient shear deformation theory is developed for wave propagation analysis of an infinite functionally graded plate in the presence of thermal environments. By dividing the transverse displacement into bending and shear parts, the number of unknowns and governing equations of the present theory is reduced, and hence, makes it simple to use. The thermal effects and temperature-dependent material properties are both taken into account. The temperature field is assumed to be a uniform distribution over the plate surface and varied in the thickness direction only. Material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent, and graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The governing equations of the wave propagation in the functionally graded plate are derived by employing the Hamilton's principle and the physical neutral surface concept. There is no stretching.bending coupling effect in the neutral surface-based formulation, and consequently, the governing equations and boundary conditions of functionally graded plates based on neutral surface have the simple forms as those of isotropic plates. The analytic dispersion relation of the functionally graded plate is obtained by solving an eigenvalue problem. The effects of the volume fraction distributions and temperature on wave propagation of functionally graded plate are discussed in detail. It can be concluded that the present theory is not only accurate but also simple in predicting the wave propagation characteristics in the functionally graded plate. The results carried out can be used in the ultrasonic inspection techniques and structural health monitoring.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.391-401
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• 2020

The present article reports the feasibility of the electrical energy generation from ambient low-frequency vibration using a piezoelectric material mounted on a bimorph cantilever beam actuator. A corresponding higher-order analytical model is developed using MATLAB in conjunction with finite element method under low-frequency with both damped and undamped conditions. An alternate model is also developed to check the material and dimensional viability of both piezoelectric materials (mainly focussed to PVDF and PZT) and the base material. Also, Genetic Algorithm is implemented to find the optimum dimensions which can produce the higher values of voltage at low-frequency frequencies (≤ 100 Hz). The delamination constraints are employed to avoid inter-laminar stresses and to increase the fracture toughness. The delamination has been done using a Teflon sheet sandwiched in between base plates and the piezo material is stuck to the base plate using adhesives. The analytical model is tested for both homogenous and isotropic material characteristics of the base material and extended to investigate the effect of the different geometrical parameters (base plate dimensions, piezo layer dimensions and placement, delamination thickness and placement, excitation frequency) on the model responses of the bimorph cantilever beam. It has been observed that when the base material characteristics are homogenous, the efficiency of the model remains higher when compared to the condition when it is of isotropic material. The necessary convergence behaviour of the current numerical model has been established and checked for the accuracy by comparing with available published results. Finally, using the results obtained from the model, a prototype is fabricated for the experimental validation via a suitable circuit considering Glass fibre and Aluminium as the bimorph material.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2023

The main goal of this paper is to study vibration of damaged core laminated sectorial plates with Functionally graded (FG) face sheets based on three-dimensional theory of elasticity. The structures are made of a damaged isotropic core and two external face sheets. These skins are strengthened at the nanoscale level by randomly oriented Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and are reinforced at the microscale stage by oriented straight fibers. These reinforcing phases are included in a polymer matrix and a three-phase approach based on the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka scheme and on the Halpin-Tsai approach, which is developed to compute the overall mechanical properties of the composite material. Three complicated equations of motion for the sectorial plates under consideration are semi-analytically solved by using 2-D differential quadrature method. Using the 2-D differential quadrature method in the r- and z-directions, allows one to deal with sandwich annular sector plate with arbitrary thickness distribution of material properties and also to implement the effects of different boundary conditions of the structure efficiently and in an exact manner. The fast rate of convergence and accuracy of the method are investigated through the different solved examples. The sandwich annular sector plate is assumed to be simply supported in the radial edges while any arbitrary boundary conditions are applied to the other two circular edges including simply supported, clamped and free. Several parametric analyses are carried out to investigate the mechanical behavior of these multi-layered structures depending on the damage features, through-the-thickness distribution and boundary conditions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.73-91
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• 2024

This paper has focused on presenting vibration analysis of trapezoidal sandwich plates with a damaged core and FG wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. A damage model is introduced to provide an analytical description of an irreversible rheological process that causes the decay of the mechanical properties, in terms of engineering constants. An isotropic damage is considered for the core of the sandwich structure. The classical theory concerning the mechanical efficiency of a matrix embedding finite length fibers has been modified by introducing the tube-to-tube random contact, which explicitly accounts for the progressive reduction of the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The First-order shear deformation theory of plate is utilized to establish governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions for the trapezoidal plate. The governing equations together with related boundary conditions are discretized using a mapping-generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method in spatial domain. Then natural frequencies of the trapezoidal sandwich plates are obtained using GDQ method. Validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature. After demonstrating the convergence and accuracy of the method, different parametric studies for laminated trapezoidal structure including carbon nanotubes waviness (0≤w≤1), CNT aspect ratio (0≤AR≤4000), face sheet to core thickness ratio (0.1 ≤ ${\frac{h_f}{h_c}}$ ≤ 0.5), trapezoidal side angles (30° ≤ α, β ≤ 90°) and damaged parameter (0 ≤ D < 1) are carried out. It is explicated that the damaged core and weight fraction, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) waviness and CNT aspect ratio can significantly affect the vibrational behavior of the sandwich structure. Results show that by increasing the values of waviness index (w), normalized natural frequency of the structure decreases, and the straight CNT (w=0) gives the highest frequency. For an overall comprehension on vibration of laminated trapezoidal plates, some selected vibration mode shapes were graphically represented in this study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.240-244
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• 2005

In this study a simple model is developed that predicts impact damage in a composite laminate using an analytical model. The model uses a non-linear approximation method (Rayleigh-Ritz) and the large deflection plate theory to predict the number of failed plies and damage area in a quasi-isotropic composite circular plate (axisymmetric problem) due to a point impact load at its centre. It is assumed that the deformation due to a static transverse load is similar to that occurred in a low velocity impact. It is found that the model, despite its simplicity, is in good agreement with FEM predictions and experimental data for the deflection of the composite plate and gives a good estimate of the number of failed plies due to fibre breakage. The predicted damage zone could be used with a fracture mechanics model developed by the second investigator and co-workers to calculate the compression after impact strength of such laminates. This approach could save significant running time when compared to FEM solutions.

• Composites Research
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.15-20
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• 2005

In this paper, damage induced acoustic emission in the composite plate in numerically simulated by using the three dimensional finite element method and explicit time integration. Acoustic source is modeled by equivalent volume source. To verify the proposed method, dynamic displacements due to the elastic wave are compared with the experiment when the fiber is broken in the single fiber embedded isotropic plate. For the laminated composite plates, the results are compared between homogenized model and DNS approach which models fibers and matrix separately. To capture high frequencies in the elastic wave, small time step size and a large number of meshes are required. The parallel computing technology is introduced to solve a large scale problem efficiently.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.399-423
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• 2013

In the present study, the thermal buckling behavior of functionally graded sandwich plates is studied using a new hyperbolic displacement model. Unlike any other theory, the theory is variationally consistent and gives four governing equations. Number of unknown functions involved in displacement field is only four, as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. This present model takes into account the parabolic distribution of transverse shear stresses and satisfies the condition of zero shear stresses on the top and bottom surfaces without using shear correction factor. Material properties and thermal expansion coefficient of the sandwich plate faces are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The core layer is still homogeneous and made of an isotropic material. The thermal loads are assumed as uniform, linear and non-linear temperature rises across the thickness direction. The results reveal that the volume fraction index, loading type and functionally graded layers thickness have significant influence on the thermal buckling of functionally graded sandwich plates.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.388-394
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• 2016

Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites have drawn increasing attentions worldwide for decades due to its outstanding properties. Stress concentration factor (SCF) as an essential parameter in materials science are critically considered in structure design and application, strength assessment and failure prediction. However, investigation of stress concentration in FRP composites has been rarely reported so far. In this study, three resource-conserving analyses (Isotropic analysis, Orthotropic analysis and Finite element analysis) were introduced to plot the $K_T^A-d/W$ curve for E-glass/epoxy composite plate with the geometrical defect of circular hole placed centrally. The plates were loaded to uniaxial direction for simplification. Finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out via ACP (ANSYS composite prepost module). Based on the least squares method, a simple expression of fitting equation could be given based on the simulated results of a set of discrete points. Finally, all three achievable solutions were presented graphically for explicit comparison. In addition, the investigation into customized efficient SCFs has also been carried out for further reference.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.947-957
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• 2005

In this study a simple model is developed that predicts impact damage in a composite laminate avoiding the need of the time-consuming dynamic finite element method (FEM). The analytical model uses a non-linear approximation method (Rayleigh-Ritz) and the large deflection plate theory to predict the number of failed plies and damage area in a quasi-isotropic composite circular plate (axisymmetric problem) due to a point impact load at its centre. It is assumed that the deformation due to a static transverse load is similar to that oc curred in a low velocity impact. It is found that the model, despite its simplicity, is in good agreement with FEM predictions and experimental data for the deflection of the composite plate and gives a good estimate of the number of failed plies due to fibre breakage. The predicted damage zone could be used with a fracture mechanics model developed by the second investigator and co-workers to calculate the compression after impact strength of such laminates. This approach could save significant running time when compared to FEM solutions.