Active damping of multiscale composite shells using Sinus theory incorporated with Murakami’s zig-zag function

Abstract

This article is divided into two main sections, the focus of the first is to develop a finite element model using the in-house MATLAB codes, implementing the sinusoidal shear deformation theory incorporating Murakami’s zig-zag function to encounter the inherent zig-zag effects of the laminated structures. The focus of the second is to investigate the active damping behavior of laminated multiscale hybrid fiber-reinforced composite (HFRC) smart shells via active constrained layer damping (ACLD) treatment using the proposed theory. The ACLD treatment layers comprise a constrained layer of viscoelastic material and an advance constraining layer of 1–3 piezoelectric composite material with vertically/obliquely oriented piezo-fibers, responsible for the active control. The computed numerical results of the laminated HFRC shell are analyzed and compared with the laminated base composite shell for symmetric/anti-symmetric cross-ply and anti-symmetric angle-ply. Moreover, we investigated the effect of carbon nanotube waviness and piezo-fibers orientation on the damping performance of the laminated HFRC/ACLD smart shell system. The analysis shows that the damping behavior of laminated HFRC shells improved due to the waviness of carbon nanotubes and that the orientation of piezo-fibers greatly influenced the effectiveness of the ACLD treatment patches. The proposed laminated multiscale HFRC/ACLD shell system with straight and wavy carbon nanotubes can be extensively used in structural health monitoring applications to actively control the mechanical vibrations induced in structures.