Buckling and post-buckling of laminated composite plates

This paper addresses the buckling and post-buckling of laminated composite plates using higher order shear deformation theory associated with Green–Lagrange non-linear strain–displacement relationships. All higher order terms arising from nonlinear strain–displacement relations are included in the formulation. The present plate theory satisfies zero transverse shear strain conditions at the top and bottom surfaces of the plate in von Karman sense. A C⁰ isoparametric finite element is developed for the present nonlinear model.     

Large rotations in first-order shear deformation FE analysis of laminated shells

The paper deals with the geometrically non-linear analysis of laminated composite beams, plates and shells in the framework of the first-order transverse shear deformation (FOSD) theory. A central point of the present paper is the discussion of the relevance of five- and six-parameter variants, respectively, of the FOSD hypothesis for large rotation plate and shell problems. In particular, it is shown that the assumption of constant through-thickness distribution of the transverse normal displacements is acceptable only for small and moderate rotation problems. Implications inherent in this assumption that are incompatible with large rotations are discussed from the point of view of the transverse normal strain-displacement relations as well as in the light of an enhanced, accurate large rotation formulation based on the use of Euler angles. The latter one is implemented as an updating process within a Total Lagrangian formulation of the six-parameter FOSD large rotation plate and shell theory. Numerical solutions are obtained by using isoparametric eight-node Serendipity-type shell finite elements with reduced integration. The Riks-Wempner-Ramm arc-length control method is used to trace primary and secondary equilibrium paths in the pre- and post-buckling range of deformation. A number of sample problems of non-linear, large rotation response of composite laminated plate and shell structures are presented including symmetric and asymmetric snap-through and snap-back problems.     

A finite element analysis of the flange earrings of strong anisotropic sheet metals in deep-drawing processes

Flange earrings of strong anisotropic sheet metals in deep-drawing process are numerically analyzed by the elastic-plastic large deformation finite element formulation based on a discrete Kirchhoff triangle plate shell element model. A Barlat-Lian anisotropic yield function and a quasi-flow corner theory are used in the present formulation. The numerical results are compared with the experimental ones of cylindrical cup drawing process. The focus of the present researches is on the numerical analysis and the constraining scheme of the flange earring of circular sheets with strong anisotropy in square cup drawing process. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19832020) and Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Jilin, China (200000519)     

Higher-order shear deformable theories for flexure of sandwich plates—Finite element evaluations

A simple isoparametric finite element formulation based on a higher-order displacement model for flexure analysis of multilayer symmetric sandwich plates is presented. The assumed displacement model accounts for non-linear variation of inplane displacements and constant variation of transverse displacement through the plate thickness. Further, the present formulation does not require the fictitious shear correction coefficient(s) generally associated with the first-order shear deformable theories. Two sandwich plate theories are developed: one in which the free shear stress conditions on the top and bottom bounding planes are imposed and another, in which such conditions are not imposed. The validity of the present development(s) is established through, numerical evaluations for deflections/stresses/stress-resultants and their comparisons with the available three-dimensional analyses/closed-form/other finite element solutions. Comparison of results from thin plate. Mindlin and present analyses with the exact three-dimensional analyses yields some important conclusions regarding the effects of the assumptions made in the CPT and Mindlin type theories. The comparative study further establishes the necessity of a higher-order shear deformable theory incorporating warping of the cross-section particularly for sandwich plates.     

THIRD ORDER SHEAR DEFORMATION MODEL FOR LAMINATED SHELLS WITH FINITE ROTATIONS： FORMULATION AND CONSISTENT LINEARIZATION

The paper presents an approach for the formulation of general laminated shells based on a third order shear deformation theory. These shells undergo finite (unlimited in size) rotations and large overall motions but with small strains. A singularity-free parametrization of the rotation field is adopted. The constitutive equations, derived with respect to laminate curvilinear coordinates, are applicable to shell elements with an arbitrary number of orthotropic layers and where the material principal axes can vary from layer to layer. A careful consideration of the consistent linearization procedure pertinent to the proposed parametrization of finite rotations leads to symmetric tangent stiffness matrices. The matrix formulation adopted here makes it possible to implement the present formulation within the framework of the finite element method as a straightforward task.     

A semi-analytical approach for the non-linear large deflection analysis of laminated rectangular plates under general out-of-plane loading

A semi-analytical approach for the geometrically non-linear analysis of rectangular laminated plates with general inplane and out-of-plane boundary conditions under a general distribution of out-of-plane loads is developed. The analysis is based on the elastic thin plate theory with geometrically non-linear von Kármán strains. The solution of the non-linear partial differential equations is reduced to an iterative sequential solution of non-linear ordinary differential equations using the multi-term extended Kantorovich method. The efficiency, accuracy, and convergence of the proposed method are examined through a comparison with other semi-analytical methods and with finite element analyses. The capabilities of the approach and its applicability to the non-linear large deflection analysis of plate structures are demonstrated through various numerical examples. Emphasis is placed on combinations of lamination, boundary, and loading conditions that cannot be analyzed using alternative semi-analytical methods.     

机器人柔性手臂的动力学有限元分析

本文将弹性动力学虚功原理推广到机器人柔性动力学,建立了计及关节弹性和关节阻尼的柔性手臂有限元动力学模型,模型中包括了非线性刚体运动和弹性变形间的耦合。文中还导出了手臂参考坐标系间的运动学递推关系。本文方法推演简单、计算效率高,能够用于具有任意复杂部件的柔性机器人动力学分析。     

带旋转自由度C^0类任意四边形板（壳）单元

基于Ｒｅｉｓｓｎｅｒ－Ｍｉｎｄｉｌｉｎ板弯曲理论和Ｖｏｎ－Ｋａｒｍａｎ大挠度理论,采用单元域内和边界位移插值一致性的概念,将四节点等参弯曲单元与Ａｌｌｍａｎ膜变形二次插值模式相结合,对层合板壳的大挠度分析提供了一种实用的带旋转自由度的四节点Ｃ＾０类板单元。大量算例表明：该单元对板壳结构的线性强度、稳定性和后屈曲分析都表现出良好的收敛性和足够的工程精度。     

A refined finite element method for bending analysis of laminated plates integrated with piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite actuators

This research presents a finite element formulation based on four-variable refined plate theory for bending analysis of cross-ply and angle-ply laminated composite plates integrated with a piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composite actuator under electromechanical loading. The four-variable refined plate theory is a simple and efficient higher-order shear deformation theory, which predicts parabolic variation of transverse shear stresses across the plate thickness and satisfies zero traction conditions on the plate free surfaces. The weak form of governing equations is derived using the principle of minimum potential energy, and a 4-node non-conforming rectangular plate element with 8 degrees of freedom per node is introduced for discretizing the domain. Several benchmark problems are solved by the developed MATLAB code and the obtained results are compared with those from exact and other numerical solutions, showing good agreement.     

Vibration and buckling of laminated sandwich plates having interfacial imperfections

The vibration and buckling characteristics of sandwich plates having laminated stiff layers are studied for different degrees of imperfections at the layer interfaces using a refined plate theory. With this plate theory, the through thickness variation of transverse shear stresses is represented by piece-wise parabolic functions where the continuity of these stresses is satisfied at the layer interfaces by taking jumps in the transverse shear strains at the interfaces. The transverse shear stresses free condition at the plate top and bottom surfaces is also satisfied. The inter-laminar imperfections are represented by in-plane displacement jumps at the layer interfaces and characterized by a linear spring layer model. It is quite interesting to note that this plate model having all these refined features requires unknowns only at the reference plane. To have generality in the analysis, finite element technique is adopted and it is carried out with a new triangular element developed for this purpose, as any existing element cannot model this plate model. As there is no published result on imperfect sandwich plates, the problems of perfect sandwich plates and imperfect ordinary laminates are used for validation.     

Geometric nonlinear formulation and discretization method for a rectangular plate undergoing large overall motions

In the present paper, the geometric nonlinear formulation is developed for dynamic stiffening of a rectangular plate undergoing large overall motions. The dynamic equations, which take into account the stiffening terms, are derived based on the virtual power principle. Finite element method is employed for discretization of the plate. The simulation results of a rotating rectangular plate obtained by using such geometric nonlinear formulation are compared with those obtained by the conventional linear method without consideration of the stiffening effects. The application limit of the conventional linear method is clarified according to the frequency error. Furthermore, the accuracy of the assumed mode method is investigated by comparison of the results obtained by using the present finite element method and those obtained by using the assumed mode method.     

两类基于局部标架梁单元的闭锁缓解方法

对于大转动、大变形柔性体的刚柔耦合动力学问题,基于李群SE(3)局部标架(local frame formulation, LFF)的建模方法能够规避刚体运动带来的几何非线性问题,离散数值模型中广义质量矩阵与切线刚度矩阵满足刚体变换的不变性,可明显地提高柔性多体系统动力学问题的计算效率. 有限元方法中,闭锁问题是导致单元收敛性能低下的主要原因, 例如梁单元的剪切以及泊松闭锁.多变量变分原理是缓解梁、板/壳单元闭锁的有效手段. 该方法不仅离散位移场,同时离散应力场或应变场, 可提高应力与应变的计算精度. 本文基于上述局部标架,研究几类梁单元的闭锁处理方法, 包括几何精确梁(geometrically exact beam formulation, GEBF)与绝对节点坐标(absolute nodal coordinate formulation, ANCF)梁单元. 其中, 采用Hu-Washizu三场变分原理缓解几何精确梁单元中的剪切闭锁,采用应变分解法缓解基于局部标架的ANCF全参数梁单元中的泊松闭锁. 数值算例表明,局部标架的梁单元在描述高转速或大变形柔性多体系统时,可消除刚体运动带来的几何非线性, 极大地减少系统质量矩阵和刚度矩阵的更新次数.缓解闭锁后的几类局部标架梁单元收敛性均得到了明显提升.      

Non-linear static-dynamic finite element formulation for composite shells

Three non-linear finite element formulations for a composite shell are discussed. They are the simplified large rotation (SLR), the large displacement large rotation (LDLR), and the Jaumann analysis of general shells (JAGS). The SLR and the LDLR theories are based on total Lagrangian approach, and the JAGS is based on a co-rotational approach. Both the SLR and LDLR theories represent the in-plane strains exactly the same as Green's strain-displacement relations, whereas, only linear displacement terms are used to represent the transverse shear strain. However, a higher order kinematic through the thickness assumption is used in the SLR theory, which leads to parabolic transverse shear stress distribution compared to a first order kinematic through the thickness relationship used in the LDLR theory that leads to linear transverse shear stress distribution. Furthermore, the LDLR theory uses an Euler-like angle in the kinematics to account for the large displacement and rotation. The JAGS theory decomposes the deformation into stretches and rigid body rotations, where an orthogonal coordinate system translates and rotates with the deformed infinitesimal volume element. The Jaumann stresses and strains are used. Layer-wise stretching and shear warping through the thickness functions are used to model the three-dimensional behavior of the shell, where displacement and stress continuities are enforced along the ply interfaces. The kinematic behavior is related to the original undeformed coordinate system using the global displacements and their derivatives. Numerical analyses of composite shells are performed to compare the three theories. The commercial code ABAQUS is also used in this investigation as a comparison.     

Boundary element analysis of anisotropic Kirchhoff plates

In this paper, the radial integration method is used to obtain a boundary element formulation without any domain integral for general anisotropic plate bending problems. Two integral equations are used and the unknown variables are assumed to be constant along each boundary element. The domain integral which arises from a transversely applied load is exactly transformed into a boundary integral by a radial integration technique. Uniformly and linearly distributed loads are considered. Several computational examples concerning orthotropic and general anisotropic plate bending problems are presented. The results show good agreement with analytical and finite element results available in the literature.     

基于高阶剪切变形理论的四边形求积元板单元及其应用

近年来由各类新型复合材料或功能梯度材料构成的板结构在工程领域得到了广泛应用,其显著特点是材料性能沿板厚变化.为合理考虑横向剪切应变,许多学者基于Reddy高阶剪切变形理论,构建了不同的有限元单元对该类板结构进行分析,但其中满足$C^{1}$连续条件的单元相对较少.本文基于Reddy高阶剪切变形理论,采用求积元方法,建立了$C^{1}$连续的四边形板单元.利用该单元对均质材料、复合材料、功能梯度材料构成的等厚度矩形板、变厚度矩形板及等厚度斜板的线弹性弯曲和自由振动问题进行了计算分析,并与现有文献中的相应计算结果进行了对比.研究表明:基于高阶剪切变形理论的四边形求积元板单元具有较高的计算效率和良好的适应性,文中各类材料构成的等变厚度矩形板及等厚度斜板均只需1个单元即可得到理想的计算结果.对于等/变厚度矩形板,可仅使用9$\times$9个积分点,而对于等厚度斜板,随着斜角的增大,所需积分点的数目逐渐增多至15$\times $15.该四边形求积元板单元可进一步用于新型复合材料板的非线性分析.      

Phenomenological invariants and their application to geometrically nonlinear formulation of triangular finite elements of shear deformable shells

A phenomenological definition of classical invariants of strain and stress tensors is considered. Based on this definition, the strain and stress invariants of a shell obeying the assumptions of the Reissner–Mindlin plate theory are determined using only three normal components of the corresponding tensors associated with three independent directions at the shell middle surface. The relations obtained for the invariants are employed to formulate a 15-dof curved triangular finite element for geometrically nonlinear analysis of thin and moderately thick elastic transversely isotropic shells undergoing arbitrarily large displacements and rotations. The question of improving nonlinear capabilities of the finite element without increasing the number of degrees of freedom is solved by assuming that the element sides are extensible planar nearly circular arcs. The shear locking is eliminated by approximating the curvature changes and transverse shear strains based on the solution of the Timoshenko beam equations. The performance of the finite element is studied using geometrically linear and nonlinear benchmark problems of plates and shells.     

Non-linear buckling and postbuckling behavior of thin-walled beams considering shear deformation

The static stability of thin-walled composite beams, considering shear deformation and geometrical non-linear coupling, subjected to transverse external force has been investigated in this paper. The theory is formulated in the context of large displacements and rotations, through the adoption of a shear deformable displacement field (accounting for bending and warping shear) considering moderate bending rotations and large twist. This non-linear formulation is used for analyzing the prebuckling and postbuckling behavior of simply supported, cantilever and fixed-end beams subjected to different load condition. Ritz's method is applied in order to discretize the non-linear differential system and the resultant algebraic equations are solved by means of an incremental Newton-Rapshon method. The numerical results show that the beam loses its stability through a stable symmetric bifurcation point and the postbuckling strength is in relation with the buckling load value. Classical predictions of lateral buckling are conservative when the prebuckling displacements are not negligible and the non-linear buckling analysis is required for reliable solutions. The analysis is supplemented by investigating the effects of the variation of load height parameter. In addition, the critical load values and postbuckling response obtained with the present beam model are compared with the results obtained with a shell finite element model (Abaqus).     

Geometrically non-linear analysis of laminated composite structures using a 4-node co-rotational shell element with enhanced strains

To demonstrate the solutions of linear and geometrically non-linear analysis of laminated composite plates and shells, the co-rotational non-linear formulation of the shell element is presented. The combinations of an enhanced assumed strain (EAS) in the membrane strains and assumed natural strains (ANS) in the shear strains improve the behavior of 4-node shell element. To secure computational efficiency in the incremental non-linear analysis, the present element uses the form of the resultant forces pre-integrated through the thickness. The transverse shear stiffness of the laminates is defined by an equilibrium approach instead of the shear correction factor. Numerical examples of this study show very good agreement with the references.     

An aeroelastic model for composite rotor blades with straight and swept tips. Part I: Aeroelastic stability in hover

An analytical model for predicting the aeroelastic behavior of composite rotor blades with straight and swept tips is presented. The blade is modeled by beam type finite elements along the elastic axis. A single finite element is used to model the swept tip. The non-linear equations of motion for the finite element model are derived using Hamilton's principle and based on a moderate deflection theory and accounts for: arbitrary cross-sectional shape, pretwist, generally anisotropic material behavior, transverse shears and out-of-plane warping. Numerical results illustrating the effects of tip sweep, anhedral and composite ply orientation on blade aeroelastic behavior are presented. It is shown that composite ply orientation has a substantial effect on blade stability. At low thrust conditions, certain ply orientations can cause instability in the lag mode. The flap-torsion coupling associated with tip sweep can also induce aeroelastic instability in the blade. This instability can be removed by appropriate ply orientation in the composite construction.