Dynamic stability analysis of laminated composite plates in thermal environments

Abstract

This paper studies the dynamic instability of laminated composite plates under thermal and arbitrary in-plane periodic loads using first-order shear deformation plate theory. The governing partial differential equations of motion are established by a perturbation technique. Then, the Galerkin method is applied to reduce the partial differential equations to ordinary differential equations. Based on Bolotin's method, the system equations of Mathieu-type are formulated and used to determine dynamic instability regions of laminated plates in the thermal environment. The effects of temperature, layer number, modulus ratio and load parameters on the dynamic instability of laminated plates are investigated. The results reveal that static and dynamic load, layer number, modulus ratio and uniform temperature rise have a significant influence on the thermal dynamic behavior of laminated plates.