Multi-objective optimization of laminated composite shells for minimum mass/cost and maximum buckling pressure with failure criteria under external hydrostatic pressure

In the present study, Multi-objective optimization of composite cylindrical shell under external hydrostatic pressure was investigated. Parameters of mass, cost and buckling pressure as fitness functions and failure criteria as optimization criterion were considered. The objective function of buckling has been used by performing the analytical energy equations and Tsai-Wu and Hashin failure criteria have been considered. Multi-objective optimization was performed by improving the evolutionary algorithm of NSGA-II. Also the kind of material, quantity of layers and fiber orientations have been considered as design variables. After optimizing, Pareto front and corresponding points to Pareto front are presented. Trade of points which have optimized mass and cost were selected by determining the specified pressure as design criteria. Finally, an optimized model of composite cylindrical shell with the optimum pattern of fiber orientations having appropriate cost and mass is presented which can tolerate the maximum external hydrostatic pressure.

     

Large deflection electro-mechanical analysis of composite structures bonded with macro-fiber composite actuators considering thermal loads

In this paper, static analysis of laminated composite plates and shells bonded with macro-fiber composite (MFC) actuators under thermo-electro-mechanical loads is considered. Most earlier studies in the literature focused on the effects of MFC actuation power and fiber orientations on shape deformation of composite plates/shells subjected to electrical voltage only. Also most of the earlier studies on MFC-\(\hbox {d}_{33}\) bonded smart structures in literature are performed by commercial softwares like Ansys or Abaqus using the thermal strain equivalent approach to model the piezomechanical coupling. Here, our earlier developed geometrically nonlinear plate and shell finite elements considering finite rotation theory are extended for MFC actuator-bonded composite structures taking into account additionally the response to temperature gradients. An improved Reissner–Mindlin hypothesis is considered to derive the variational formulation, in which a parabolic assumption of transverse shear strains across the thickness is assumed. MFC actuators dominated by the \(\hbox {d}_{33}\) effect (MFC-\(\hbox {d}_{33}\)) with arbitrary fiber orientations are considered. The numerical model is validated with composite beams and plates by comparing the results of simulations with experimental investigations existing in the literature. An angle-ply composite shell structure is studied in detail concerning geometrically nonlinear analysis of bending and twisting deformations under different MFC-\(\hbox {d}_{33}\) fiber orientations under electric loading. Shape control of thermally induced deformations of composite plates and shells is performed using bonded MFC-\(\hbox {d}_{33}\) actuators and the significance of the present geometrically nonlinear model is highlighted.

     

Analytical solution for static and dynamic analysis of FGP cylinders integrated with FG-GPLs patches exposed to longitudinal magnetic field

Motivated by progressive sandwich structures’ usage due to their high strength to weight ratio in different industries, the current paper aimed at evaluating static and dynamic behaviors of three-layered cylinders including FG porous core and two graphene nanoplatelet (GPLs)-reinforced composite as face sheets. The whole sandwich cylinder rests on Pasternak substrate and it is also exposed to a longitudinal magnetic field. Epoxy has used as matrix and GPLs as the reinforcing phases for top and bottom face sheets and based on the rule of mixture and Halpin–Tsai micromechanical models, effective values for mechanical properties of skins are gained. Besides, regarding the integrity of current research, all layers of model are assumed to be FG, which means for the porous core the placement of the pores is considered and for the faces, the GPLs dispersion patterns are regarded. Among different shell theories, sinusoidal shear deformation shells theory (SSDST) is utilized to define displacement components along with the major axes. Hamilton’s principle is hired to attain governing equations for vibrational and buckling analyses. In the end, the effects of different variables’ alternation as the model’s geometry, foundation moduli, mode number, and mid-radius on vibrational and buckling behaviors are interpreted in type of different plots and tables. Pores’ placement and GPLs dispersion patterns play important roles in static and dynamic responses of the under-consideration cylinder. The outcomes of this study may help to create more efficient engineering structures such as pressure vessels.

     

Postbuckling of multilayer cylindrical and spherical shell panels reinforced with graphene platelet by isogeometric analysis

The present work fills a gap on the postbuckling behavior of multilayer functionally graded graphene platelet reinforced composite (FG-GPLRC) cylindrical and spherical shell panels resting on elastic foundations subjected to central pinching forces and pressure loadings. Based on a higher-order shear deformation theory and the von Kármán’s nonlinear strain–displacement relations, the governing equations of the FG-GPLRC cylindrical and spherical shell panels are established by the principle of virtual work. The non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) based isogeometric analysis (IGA), the modified arc-length method and the Newton’s iteration method are employed synthetically to obtain nonlinear load–deflection curves for the panels numerically. Several comparative examples are performed to test reliability and accuracy of IGA and arc-length method in present formulation and programming implementation. Parametric investigations are carried out to illustrate the effects of dispersion type of the graphene platelet (GPL), weight fraction of the GPL, thickness of the panel, radius of the panel and parameters of elastic foundation on the load–deflection curves of the FG-GPLRC shell panels. Some complex load–deflection curves of the FG-GPLRC cylindrical and spherical shell panels resting on elastic foundations may be useful for future references.

     

Wave propagation simulation in an electrically open shell reinforced with multi-phase nanocomposites

Wave propagation simulation in a multi-hybrid nanocomposite (MHC)-reinforced doubly curved open shell covered with piezoelectric actuator is examined for the first time. The third-order shear deformation theory (third-order SDT) is applied to formulate the stress–strain relations. Rule of the mixture and modified Halpin–Tsai model are engaged to provide the effective material constants of the MHC-reinforced open shell. By employing Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations of the structure are derived. Via the compatibility rule, the bonding between the smart layer and sandwich open shell is modeled. Also, with the aid of Maxwell's equation, the mechanics of the piezoelectric layer are formulated. Afterward, a parametric study is carried out to investigate the effects of the CNTs’ weight fraction, various FG face sheet patterns, small radius to total thickness ratio, the thickness of the smart layer, externally applied voltage, and carbon fiber angle on the phase velocity of the MHC-reinforced open shell. Another necessary consequence is that as the externally applied voltage to the piezoelectric layer of the smart open shell increases, there will be seen an enhancement on the phase velocity or wave response of the system and without a doubt this issue is much more substantial at the lower wave number. It is also observed that when the applied voltage is more than zero, we can find a range for the fiber angle that these values are the critical fiber angle and this critical range will expand by increasing the external electrical load. The useful suggestion of this study is that for designing the structure, we should attention to the FG pattern and higher value of the wavenumber, simultaneously. The presented study outputs can be used in ultrasonic inspection techniques and structural health monitoring.

     

Effect of boundary conditions on natural frequencies for rotating composite cylindrical shells with orthogonal stiffeners

The effect of the boundary conditions on the natural frequencies for rotating composite cylindrical shells with the orthogonal stiffeners is investigated using Love’s shell theory and the discrete stiffener theory. The frequency equation is derived using the Rayleigh–Ritz procedure based on the energy method. The considered boundary conditions are four sets, namely: (1) clamped–clamped; (2) clamped–simply supported; (3) clamped–sliding; and (4) clamped–free. The beam modal function is used for the axial vibration mode and the trigonometric functions are used for the circumferential vibration mode. The composite shells are stiffened with uniform intervals and the stiffeners have the same material. By comparison with the previously published analytical results for the rotating composite shell without stiffeners and the orthogonally stiffened isotropic cylindrical shells, it is shown that natural frequencies can be determined with adequate precision.     

Nonlinear primary resonance of imperfect spiral stiffened functionally graded cylindrical shells surrounded by damping and nonlinear elastic foundation

In this paper, an analytical method is used to study the nonlinear primary resonance of imperfect spiral stiffened functionally graded (SSFG) cylindrical shells with internal stiffeners. The SSFG cylindrical shell is surrounded by linear and nonlinear elastic foundation and the effect of structural damping on the system response is also considered. The material properties of the shell and stiffeners are assumed to be continuously graded in the thickness direction. Three-parameter nonlinear elastic foundation model is consists of two-parameter linear elastic foundation (Winkler and Pasternak) and one hardening/softening cubic nonlinearity parameter. Based on the von Kármán nonlinear equations and the classical plate theory of shells, the strain–displacement relations are derived. The smeared stiffener technique is used to the model of the internal stiffeners. Using the Galerkin method, the partial differential equations of motion are discretized. The nonlinear primary resonance is analyzed by means of the multiple scales method. The effects of various geometrical characteristics, material parameters and elastic foundation coefficients are investigated on the nonlinear primary resonance.

     

Fluid–structure–soil interaction effects on the free vibrations of functionally graded sandwich plates

This study investigates the effects of fluid–structure and soil–structure interaction on the free vibration response of functionally graded sandwich plates. To this aim, an exemplary problem is analyzed, whereas a metal/ceramic sandwich plate is placed at the bottom of a tank filled in with fluid. Two cases are considered: (i) soft core, i.e., a sandwich plate with metal core and ceramic skins, and (ii) hard core, i.e., a sandwich plate with ceramic core and metal skins. In both cases, the skins are modelled as suitable functionally graded materials (FGMs). The soil is modelled as a Pasternak foundation. The free vibration analysis is carried out according to the extended higher order sandwich plate theory (EHSAPT). The fluid is assumed to be inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational. Hamilton’s principle is exploited to deduce the governing equations and the corresponding boundary conditions. The Rayleigh–Ritz method with two-variable orthogonal polynomials is used to compute the natural frequencies of the sandwich plate. The adopted approach is first validated through comparison with results published in the literature. Then, the effects are studied of several parameters on the dynamic response of the system.

     

Plastic deformation of a boron/aluminum tube under multi-axial loadings

A recently developed constitutive theory, encoded in the form of a finite-element program, has been utilized to study the elastic-plastic deformation of a metal-matrix composite tube (shell). Numerical results have been obtained for a unidirectional boron/aluminum cylindrial tube specimen, integrally attached to steel end-fittings and subjected to a combined loading of tension, torsion and internal pressure. Of particular interest are the effect of load-step size on the accuracy of stresses in the plastic range, influence of plasticity on the “boundary-layer effect” and uniformity of the stress field in the central region of the fiber reinforced cylindrical tube when loaded in the plastic range under combined loading conditions.     

Exploiting the structural reserve of textile composite structures by progressive failure analysis using a new orthotropic failure criterion

In this paper, a novel orthotropic layer based failure criterion for modelling progressive failure of non-crimp fabrics is presented. The strength parameters and stiffnesses needed for this failure criterion are obtained from virtual material tests. Therefore, a finite element multiscale algorithm is used to model the effect of lower scale inhomogeneities on macroscale material behavior. With this multiscale approach it is possible to make predictions for one single layer within a textile preform solely from the knowledge of the mechanical behavior of the constituents fiber and matrix and from the textile fiber architecture. The obtained stiffnesses and strengthes for one textile layer are used as input data for the novel orthotropic failure criterion presented in this paper. In order to show the workability of this failure criterion, finite element simulations of coupon tests and of a three-point bending test of a textile composite are shown and compared to experimental data.     

Failure analysis of laminated composite cylindrical/spherical shell panels subjected to low-velocity impact

A 4-noded, 48 d.o.f. doubly curved quadrilateral shell finite element based on Kirchhoff–Love shell theory, is used in the nonlinear finite element analysis to predict the damage of laminated composite cylindrical/spherical shell panels subjected to low-velocity impact. The large displacement stiffness matrix is formed using Green's strain tensor based on total Lagrangian approach. An incremental/iterative scheme is used for solving resulting nonlinear algebraic equations by Newton–Raphson method. The damage analysis is performed by applying Tsai–Wu quadratic failure criterion at all Gauss points and the mode of failure is identified using maximum stress criteria. The modes of failure considered are fiber breakage and matrix cracking. The progressive failure analysis is carried out by degrading the stiffness of the material suitably at all failed Gauss points. The load due to low-velocity impact is treated as an equivalent quasi-static load and Hertzian law of contact is used for finding the maximum contact force. After evaluating the nonlinear finite element analysis thoroughly for typical problems, damage analysis was carried out for cross-ply and quasi-isotropic cylindrical/spherical shell panels.     

Application of nonlocal strain–stress gradient theory and GDQEM for thermo-vibration responses of a laminated composite nanoshell

In this article, thermal buckling and frequency analysis of a size-dependent laminated composite cylindrical nanoshell in thermal environment using nonlocal strain–stress gradient theory are presented. The thermodynamic equations of the laminated cylindrical nanoshell are based on first-order shear deformation theory, and generalized differential quadrature element method is implemented to solve these equations and obtain natural frequency and critical temperature of the presented model. The results show that by considering C–F boundary conditions and every even layers’ number, in lower value of length scale parameter, by increasing the length scale parameter, the frequency of the structure decreases but in higher value of length scale parameter this matter is inverse. Finally, influences of temperature difference, ply angle, length scale and nonlocal parameters on the critical temperature and frequency of the laminated composite nanostructure are investigated.

     

An energy conserving non-linear dynamic finite element formulation for flexible composite laminates

Finite element formulation for non-linear dynamic analysis of flexible composite laminates is presented. A first-order shear-deformation theory, capable of modelling finite deformations and finite rotations in geometrically exact manner, is developed. A model allows simulation of a general elastic material with varied mass density, degree of orthotropy and elastic material parameters and is suitable for non-linear elasto-dynamic analysis of relatively thin and flexible laminates composed of fibre-reinforced composites. Coupling of mid-surface and shell-director fields is exactly taken into account, so that the kinetic energy is not of simple quadratic form. An implicit, one-step, second-order accurate numerical time-integration scheme is applied. In particular, the energy and momentum conserving algorithm, which exactly preserves the fundamental constants of the shell-like body motion, is accomodated for composite laminates. Spatial finite element discretization is based on the four noded multilayered shell finite element with isoparametric interpolations. Fully discrete weak form of the initial boundary value problem is consistently linearized in order to achieve a quadratic rate of asymptotic convergence typical for the Newton–Raphson based solution procedures. Numerical examples are presented.     

Fractional strain energy and its application to the free vibration analysis of a plate

Fractional calculus is a branch of mathematical analysis that studies the differential operators of an arbitrary (real or complex) order and provides a new approach to non-local mechanics. In this study, a theoretical consideration on a new fractional non-local model is presented based on existence of fractional strain energy. It has two additional free parameters compared to classical local mechanics: (1) a fractional parameter which controls the strain gradient order in the strain energy relation and makes the model more flexible to describe physical phenomena, and (2) a non-local parameter to consider small scale effects in micron and sub-micron scales. The model has been used to obtain a fractional non-local plate theory. Free vibrations of a rectangular simply supported (S–S–S–S) plate has been investigated and the meaning of different parameters, such as fractional and non-local parameters, has been shown. The non-linear governing equation has been solved by the Galerkin method. A simple form of the governing equation and the numerical solution is an advantage of this fractional non-local model. Furthermore, the fractional nonlocal theory is contrasted with the Eringen nonlocal theory to show that fractional one enables to obtain much wider class of solutions.

     

Selection of high strength encapsulant for MEMS devices undergoing high-pressure packaging

Deflection behavior of several encapsulant materials under uniform pressure was studied to determine the best outer encapsulant for MEMS device. Encapsulation is needed to protect movable parts of MEMS devices during high-pressure transfer molded packaging process. The selected outer encapsulant material has to have surface deflection of less than 5 μm under 100 atm vertical loading. Deflection was simulated using Coventorware ver.2005 software and verified with calculation results obtained using shell bending theory. Screening design was used to construct a systematic approach for selecting the best encapsulant material and thickness under uniform pressure up to 100 atm. Materials considered for this study were SMC polyimide, liquid crystal polymer (LCP) carbon fiber and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) high modulus carbon fiber. It was observed that PPS high modulus carbon fiber has deflection of less than 5 μm for all thickness and pressure variations. LCP carbon fiber is acceptable and SMC polyimide is unsuitable as high strength encapsulant. PPS high modulus carbon fiber is considered the best encapsulation material for MEMS under high-pressure packaging process due to its high strength. The generalized mathematical model and equations developed for predicting deflection of encapsulation under uniform loading could be used to determine the suitability of any candidate material and encapsulation design with similar domed shaped structure.     

A new numerical approach for low velocity impact response of multiscale-reinforced nanocomposite plates

In this paper, the low velocity impact analysis of carbon nanotube (CNT)/carbon fiber (CF)-reinforced hybrid nanocomposite plates is presented using variational differential quadrature (VDQ) method due to its numerical essence and the framework of implementation. The hybrid nanocomposite plate deformation is formulated based on classical plate theory and the contact force between the plate and projectile is estimated using Hertzian contact law. Also, a new micromechanics approach is presented to calculate the effective mechanical properties of the CNT/CF polymer hybrid nanocomposites. Five important factors including, random orientation and random distribution of CNTs, CNT/polymer interphase region, waviness and transversely isotropic behavior of CNT are incorporated in the micromechanical analysis. The accuracy of the present approach is verified with the available open literature results showing a clear agreement. The effects of various factors such as volume fraction and non-straight shape of CNT, CNT/polymer interphase region, CF volume fraction, random and regular arrangement of CFs, plate geometrical parameters and impactor velocity on the low velocity impact behavior of the CNT/CF-reinforced hybrid nanocomposite plates are studied.

     

Nonlinear torsional buckling and postbuckling analysis of cylindrical silicon nanoshells incorporating surface free energy effects

In the present study, a size-dependent shell model is developed which can afford to describe the nonlinear torsional buckling and postbuckling characteristics of cylindrical nanoshells in the presence of surface stress effects. To accomplish this purpose, the Gurtin–Murdoch theory of elasticity together with the von Karman geometric nonlinearity is implemented into the first-order shear deformation shell theory. A linear variation through the thickness is considered for the normal stress component of the bulk to satisfy the balance conditions on the free surfaces of the nanoshell. By means of the virtual work principle, the non-classical governing differential equations are constructed in which the transverse displacement and Airy stress function are considered as independent variables. Thereafter, a boundary layer theory is employed including the effect of surface stress in conjunction with the nonlinear prebuckling deformations and the large postbuckling deflections. Subsequently, an efficient solution methodology based on an improved perturbation technique is put to use to obtain the size-dependent critical torsional buckling loads and the associated postbuckling equilibrium paths. It is observed that the torsional load exhibits a significant increase after reaching the minimum postbuckling load. Also, it is revealed that the effect of surface stress becomes negligible at high values of the deflection.

     

Learning nonlinear dynamics with behavior ordinary/partial/system of the differential equations: looking through the lens of orthogonal neural networks

In this paper, size-dependent dynamic stability of axially loaded functionally graded (FG) composite truncated conical microshells with magnetostrictive facesheets surrounded by nonlinear viscoelastic foundations including a two-parameter Winkler–Pasternak medium augmented via a Kelvin–Voigt viscoelastic approach is analyzed considering nonlinear cubic stiffness. To this purpose, von Karman-type kinematic nonlinearity along with modified couple stress theory of elasticity was applied to third-order shear deformation conical shell theory in the presence of magnetic permeability tensor and magnetic fluxes. The numerical technique of generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) was used for the solution of microstructural-dependent dynamic stability responses of FG composite truncated conical microshells. It was seen that moving from prebuckling to postbuckling domain somehow increased the significance of couple stress type of size dependency on frequency. In addition, within both prebuckling and postbuckling regimes, an increase of material gradient index decreased the importance of couple stress type of size dependency on the frequency of an axially loaded FG composite truncated conical microshell. Furthermore, it was revealed that by applying a positive magnetic field to an axially loaded truncated conical microshell with magnetostrictive facesheets, its frequency at a specific axial load value was increased in prebuckling domain and decreased in postbuckling domain. However, this pattern was reversed by applying a negative magnetic field.

     

Aerodynamic and FSI Analysis of Wind Turbines with the ALE-VMS and ST-VMS Methods

We provide an overview of the aerodynamic and FSI analysis of wind turbines the first three authors’ teams carried out in recent years with the ALE-VMS and ST-VMS methods. The ALE-VMS method is the variational multiscale version of the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. The VMS components are from the residual-based VMS (RBVMS) method. The ST-VMS method is the VMS version of the deforming-spatial-domain/stabilized space–time (DSD/SST) method. The techniques complementing these core methods include weak enforcement of the essential boundary conditions, NURBS-based isogeometric analysis, using NURBS basis functions in temporal representation of the rotor motion, mesh motion and also in remeshing, rotation representation with constant angular velocity, Kirchhoff–Love shell modeling of the rotor-blade structure, and full FSI coupling. The analysis cases include the aerodynamics of standalone wind-turbine rotors, wind-turbine rotor and tower, and the FSI that accounts for the deformation of the rotor blades. The specific wind turbines considered are NREL 5MW, NREL Phase VI and Micon 65/13M, all at full scale, and our analysis for NREL Phase VI and Micon 65/13M includes comparison with the experimental data.