Random vibration of laminated composite plates with material non-linearity

Abstract

Structural components in space vehicles, aircraft, automobiles, etc., that are made of filamentary composite laminae are usually subjected to stochastic loads. Composite laminae have strongly anisotropic properties and display significantly non-linear behavior when loaded in shear or along directions different from those of the filaments. The method of equivalent linearization is used in conjunction with the finite element method to perform non-linear random vibration analysis of laminated composite plates. An approximate, but sufficiently accurate, series representation of the non-linear shear stress-strain law is used to facilitate the formulation. Kirchhoff plate theory is used and hence transverse shear deformation is neglected. The random vibration analysis was found to be significantly more cost-effective than deterministic simulation.