Analysis of laminated composite plates based on THB-RKPM method using the higher order shear deformation plate theory

Abstract

In the present investigation, static, free vibration and buckling response of laminated composite plates based on the coupling of truncated hierarchical B-splines (THB-splines) and reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) within higher order shear deformation plate theory are presented. The coupled THB-RKPM method blends the advantages of the isogeometric analysis and meshfree methods. Since under certain conditions, the isogeometric B-spline and NURBS basis functions are exactly represented by reproducing kernel meshfree shape functions, recursive process of producing isogeometric bases can be omitted. More importantly, a seamless link between meshfree methods and isogeometric analysis can be easily defined which provide an authentic meshfree approach to refine the model locally in isogeometric analysis. This procedure can be accomplished using truncated hierarchical B-splines to construct new bases and adaptively refine them. It is shown that THB-RKPM method is ideally appropriate for local refinement of laminated composite plates in the framework of isogeometric analysis. The flexibility of the proposed method for refining basis functions leads to decrease the computational cost without losing the accuracy of the solution. Numerical examples considering different boundary conditions, various aspect ratios, stiffness ratios and fiber orientations demonstrate validity and versatility of the proposed method.