Probabilistic failure analysis of a fibre-reinforced plastic sandwich plate subjected to a lateral pressure load

Abstract

This paper deals with probabilistic failure analysis of a fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich plate subjected to a lateral pressure load. Input parameters to the strength of the sandwich plate such as a lateral pressure load, elastic moduli and the geometric and ultimate strength values, are treated as basic design variables, and a specific probability distribution is applied to them to take into account their variability. Based on the selected basic design variables, simplified higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) is used to calculate the probabilistic structural response of the sandwich plate. The limit state equations are derived from polynomial failure criteria such as maximum stress, maximum strain, Tsai-Hill, Tsai-Wu and Hoffman criteria. The calculated probabilistic structural response of the sandwich plate and the basic design variables of the ultimate strength are then substituted into the derived limit state equations to define the failure or survival state of the sandwich plate. Results are interpreted in three categories such as probabilistic failures at the faces and the core, probabilistic strength distributions of the sandwich plate and sensitivity of each selected basic design variable to estimated probabilistic sandwich plate strength.