Smart damping of a simply supported laminated CNT-based hybrid composite plate using FE approach

Abstract

We present the finite element (FE) model using the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to investigate the damping performance of laminated hybrid fiber-reinforced composite (HFRC) smart plates via the active constrained layer damping (ACLD) treatment. A unique feature of the HFRC is that the nanoscale carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are embedded in the matrix phase of carbon fiber composite to improve the overall properties, especially the damping characteristics of the resulting HFRC. Two- and three-phase micromechanical models are employed to determine the effective elastic properties of the base composite and HFRC respectively. The constraining layer of the ACLD treatment is considered to be made of vertically reinforced 1–3 piezoelectric composite (PZC) material. The system consists of a laminated HFRC plate integrated with the two patches of ACLD treatment and the numerical results are computed for three cases: symmetric and anti-symmetric cross-ply, and anti-symmetric angle-ply. The damping performance of the laminated HFRC square plate is significantly enhanced over the laminated base composite plate due to the incorporation of a small amount of CNTs. In particular, the anti-symmetric angle-ply case provides better damping than symmetric/anti-symmetric cross-ply cases. Analysis of the HFRC plate showed that its vibration amplitudes can be attenuated from ∼8 to ∼16% by adding a small amount CNTs. The effect of in-plane and transverse actuation of 1–3 PZC on the damping characteristics of the overall plate was also studied. We found that the transverse actuation significantly influences the damping performance of the overall plate. The outcomes of our study provide substantial evidence that the addition of a small amount of CNTs in the conventional composite structure can improve its damping performance significantly. This is practically possible in view of the recent research activities in the field of fabrication of large-scale CNT-based hybrid composite structures.