A Spectral Finite Element Model for Wave Propagation Analysis in Laminated Composite Plate

Abstract

A new spectral plate element (SPE) is developed to analyze wave propagation in anisotropic laminated composite media. The element is based on the first-order laminated plate theory, which takes shear deformation into consideration. The element is formulated using the recently developed methodology of spectral finite element formulation based on the solution of a polynomial eigenvalue problem. By virtue of its frequency-wave number domain formulation, single element is sufficient to model large structures, where conventional finite element method will incur heavy cost of computation. The variation of the wave numbers with frequency is shown, which illustrates the inhomogeneous nature of the wave. The element is used to demonstrate the nature of the wave propagating in laminated composite due to mechanical impact and the effect of shear deformation on the mechanical response is demonstrated. The element is also upgraded to an active spectral plate clement for modeling open and closed loop vibration control of plate structures. Further, delamination is introduced in the SPE and scattered wave is captured for both broadband and modulated pulse loading.