• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.603-633
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• 2008

A four-node plate finite element for the analysis of laminated composites which is developed using strain gradient notation is presented. The element is based on a first-order shear deformation theory and on the equivalent lamina assumption. Strains and stresses can be calculated at different points through the thickness of the plate. They are averaged values due to the equivalent lamina assumption. A shear correction factor is used as the transverse shear strain is taken to be constant over the plate thickness while its actual variation is parabolic. Strain gradient notation, which is physically interpretable, allows for the detailed a-priori analysis of the finite element model. The polynomial expansions are inspected and spurious terms responsible for modeling errors are identified in the shear strains polynomial expansions. The element is corrected by simply removing the spurious terms from the shear strains expansions. The element is implemented into a FORTRAN finite element code in two versions; namely, with and without spurious terms. Results are compared to show the effects of the spurious terms on the solutions. It is also shown that a refined mesh composed of corrected elements provides solutions which approximate very well the analytical solutions, validating the procedure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.595-610
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• 2019

This paper deals with the static and dynamic behavior of Functionally Graded Carbon Nanotubes (FG-CNT)-reinforced porous sandwich (PMPV) polymer plate. The model of nanocomposite plate is investigated within the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). Two types of porous sandwich plates are supposed (sandwich with face sheets reinforced / homogeneous core and sandwich with homogeneous face sheets / reinforced core). Functionally graded Carbon Nanotubes (FG-CNT) and uniformly Carbon Nanotubes (UD-CNT) distributions of face sheets or core porous plates with uniaxially aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes are considered. The governing equations are derived by using Hamilton's principle. The solution for bending and vibration of such type's porous plates are obtained. The detailed mathematical derivations are provided and the solutions are compared to some cases in the literature. The effect of the several parameters of reinforced sandwich porous plates such as aspect ratios, volume fraction, types of reinforcement, number of modes and thickness of plate on the bending and vibration analyses are studied and discussed. On the question of porosity, this study found that there is a great influence of their variation on the static and vibration of porous sandwich plate.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.377-382
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• 2020

The free vibration characteristics of corrugated laminated composite plates with axial stiffeners is investigated using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The plate is stiffened by beams with open cross-section area. The equivalent homogenization model is used for the corrugated laminated composite plates. This homogenization model is treated a corrugated plate as an orthotropic plate that has different material properties in two perpendicular directions. The motion of equivalent plate is represented on the basis of the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to account for the effect of rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation. Stiffeners are considered as discrete elements to predict the local vibration mode to be generated by the presence of stiffeners. To validate the proposed analytical approach, natural frequencies and vibration mode shapes from the analytical method are compared with those from the FEA by ANSYS.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2019

In the present study, the behavior of steel plate shear walls (SPSW) with variable column flexural stiffness is experimentally and numerically investigated. Altogether six one-bay one-story specimens, three moment resisting frames (MRFs) and three SPSWs, were designed, fabricated and tested. Column flexural stiffness of the first specimen pair (one MRF and one SPSW) corresponded to the value required by the design codes, while for the second and third pair it was reduced by 18% and 36%, respectively. The quasi-static cyclic test result indicate that SPSW with reduced column flexural stiffness have satisfactory performance up to 4% story drift ratio, allow development of the tension field over the entire infill panel, and cause negligible column "pull-in" deformation which indicates that prescribed minimal column flexural stiffness value, according to AISC 341-10, might be conservative. In addition, finite element (FE) pushover simulations using shell elements were developed. Such FE models can predict SPSW cyclic behavior reasonably well and can be used to conduct numerical parametric analyses. It should be mentioned that these FE models were not able to reproduce column "pull-in" deformation indicating the need for further development of FE simulations with cyclic load introduction which will be part of another paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.65-76
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• 2017

This research investigated the vibration frequency of sandwich plate made of piezoelectric fiber reinforced composite core (PFRC) and face sheets of piezomagnetic materials. The effective electroelastic constants for PFRC materials are obtained by the micromechanical approach. The resting medium of sandwich plate is modeled by Pasternak foundation including normal and shear modulus. Besides, sandwich plate is subjected to linearly varying normal stresses that change by load factor. The coupled equations of motion are derived using first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and energy method. These equations are solved by differential quadrature method (DQM) for simply supported boundary condition. A detailed numerical study is carried out based on piezoelectricity theory to indicate the significant effect of load factor, volume fraction of fibers, modulus of elastic foundation, core-to-face sheet thickness ratio and composite materials on dimensionless frequency of sandwich plate. These findings can be used to aerospace, building and automotive industries.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.583-597
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• 2023

This paper introduces a novel approach to multi-material topology optimization (MTO) targeting in-plane bi-directional functionally graded (IBFG) non-uniform thickness Reissner-Mindlin plates, employing an alternative active phase approach. The mathematical formulation integrates a first shear deformation theory (FSDT) to address compliance minimization as the objective function. Through an alternating active-phase algorithm in conjunction with the block Gauss-Seidel method, the study transforms a multi-phase topology optimization challenge with multi-volume fraction constraints into multiple binary phase sub-problems, each with a single volume fraction constraint. The investigation focuses on IBFG materials that incorporate adequate local bulk and shear moduli to enhance the precision of material interactions. Furthermore, the well-established mixed interpolation of tensorial components 4-node elements (MITC4) is harnessed to tackle shear-locking issues inherent in thin plate models. The study meticulously presents detailed mathematical formulations for IBFG plates in the MTO framework, underscored by numerous numerical examples demonstrating the method's efficiency and reliability.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.569-595
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• 2014

In this paper, a novel semi-energy finite strip method (FSM) is developed based on the concept of first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) in order to attempt the post-buckling solution for thin and relatively thick functionally graded (FG) plates under uniform end-shortening. In order to study the effects of through-the-thickness shear stresses on the post-buckling behavior of FG plates, two previously developed finite strip methods, i.e., semi-energy FSM based on the concept of classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) and a CLPT full-energy FSM, are also implemented. Moreover, the effects of aspect ratio on initial post-buckling stiffness of FG rectangular plates are studied. It has been shown that the variation of the ratio of initial post-buckling stiffness to pre-buckling stiffness ($S^*/S$) with respect to aspects ratios is quite independent of volume fractions of constituents in thin FG plates. It has also been seen that the universal curve representing the variation of ($S^*/S$) with aspect ratio of a FG plate demonstrate a saw shape curve. Moreover, it is revealed that for the thin FG plates in contrast to relatively thick plates, the variations of non-dimensional load versus end-shortening is independent of ceramic-metal volume fraction index. This means that the post-buckling behavior of thin FG plates and the thin pure isotropic plates is similar. The results are discussed in detail and compared with those obtained from finite element method (FEM) of analysis. The study of the results may have a great influence in design of FG plates encountering post-buckling behavior.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.185-202
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• 2024

In this research paper, and for the first time, wave propagations in sigmoidal imperfect functionally graded material plates are investigated using a simplified quasi-three-dimensionally higher shear deformation theory (Quasi-3D HSDTs). By employing an indeterminate integral for the transverse displacement in the shear components, the number of unknowns and governing equations in the current theory is reduced, thereby simplifying its application. Consequently, the present theories exhibit five fewer unknown variables compared to other Quasi-3D theories documented in the literature, eliminating the need for any correction coefficients as seen in the first shear deformation theory. The material properties of the functionally graded plates smoothly vary across the cross-section according to a sigmoid power law. The plates are considered imperfect, indicating a pore distribution throughout their thickness. The distribution of porosities is categorized into two types: even or uneven, with linear (L)-Type, exponential (E)-Type, logarithmic (Log)-Type, and Sinus (S)-Type distributions. The current quasi-3D shear deformation theories are applied to formulate governing equations for determining wave frequencies, and phase velocities are derived using Hamilton's principle. Dispersion relations are assumed as an analytical solution, and they are applied to obtain wave frequencies and phase velocities. A comprehensive parametric study is conducted to elucidate the influences of wavenumber, volume fraction, thickness ratio, and types of porosity distributions on wave propagation and phase velocities of the S-FGM plate. The findings of this investigation hold potential utility for studying and designing techniques for ultrasonic inspection and structural health monitoring.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.115-123
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• 2018

By using the first order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT) in the present paper, the effect of porosity on the buckling behavior of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite porous plates has been investigated analytically. Two types of distributions of uniaxially aligned reinforcement material are utilized which uniformly (UD-CNT) and functionally graded (FG-CNT) of plates. The analytical equations of the model are derived and the exact solutions for critical buckling load of such type's plates are obtained. The convergence of the method is demonstrated and the present solutions are numerically validated by comparison with some available solutions in the literature. The central thesis studied and discussed in this paper is the Influence of Various parameters on the buckling of carbon nanotube-reinforced porous plate such as aspect ratios, volume fraction, types of reinforcement, the degree of porosity and plate thickness. On the question of porosity, this study found that there is a great influence of their variation on the critical buckling load. It is revealed that the critical buckling load decreases as increasing coefficients of porosity.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.975-999
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• 2016

This work investigates a thermomechanical bending analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates by proposing a novel quasi-3D type higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The mathematical model introduces only 5 variables as the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). Unlike the conventional HSDT, the present one presents a novel displacement field which includes undetermined integral variables. The mechanical properties of functionally graded layers of the plate are supposed to change in the thickness direction according to a power law distribution. The core layer is still homogeneous and made of an isotropic ceramic material. The governing equations for the thermomechanical bending investigation are obtained through the principle of virtual work and solved via Navier-type method. Interesting results are determined and compared with quasi-3D and 2D HSDTs. The influences of functionally graded material (FGM) layer thickness, power law index, layer thickness ratio, thickness ratio and aspect ratio on the deflections and stresses of functionally graded sandwich plates are discussed.