LARGE AMPLITUDE FREE VIBRATIONS OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES

This paper deals with large amplitude free flexural vibrations of laminated composite plates using a 9-node Heterosis degenerated isoparametric quadrilateral element, including the effects of transverse shear and rotary inertia. The nonlinear dynamic equations of the plates are formulated in von Karman's sense. Amplitude-frequency relationships are obtained through dynamic response history using the Newmark numerical integration scheme. Detailed numerical results based on various parameters are presented for orthotropic laminated plates with different boundary conditions. The rectangular anti-symmetric cross-ply plates show the softening type of nonlinearity for initial small amplitudes. The displacement amplitudes decrease and nonlinear frequencies increase with the increment of time. Supported by the NNSFC (No. 19672033), the National Key Project on Basic Research and Applied Research (PD9521904) and the Doctoral Training Foundation of Education Commission of China(No. 98000304).