Finite element transient analysis of composite and sandwich plates based on a refined theory and implicit time integration schemes

Abstract

An isoparametric finite element formulation based on a higher order displacement model for dynamic analysis of multilayer unsymmetric composite plates is presented. Newmark and Wilson-θ schemes are used for time integration of the discrete coupled second-order ordinary differential equation system of dynamic equilibrium and results are compared. A special mass diagonalization scheme is used which conserves total mass of the element and also includes the effects of rotary inertia terms. Effects of consistent/diagonal mass matrix, time step, and finite element mesh are investigated. Several numerical examples are presented and results are compared with those available in the literature.