Nonlinear dynamic analysis of composite laminated plates containing spatially oriented short fibers

The paper presents an analytical approach to examine the nonlinear dynamic responses of a laminated composite plate composed of spatially oriented short fibers in each layer of the composite. Using Mori-Tanaka mean field theory, the effective elastic moduli of each lamina are obtained explicitly as a function of the properties of the constituents, volume fraction, orientation angles, and fiber shape. The resulting moduli are further applied to analyze the nonlinear transient response of the laminated plate. The formulation is based on Mindlin first-order shear deformation theory and von-Karman nonlinear kinematics, and the methodology of the solution utilizes the fast converging finite double Chebyshev series. Houbolt time marching scheme and quadratic extrapolation technique are used for the temporal discretization and linearization, respectively. Numerical results are presented for laminated plates made of E-glass/ Epoxy fiber reinforced composites. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.