Transient dynamics of composite sandwich plates using 4-, 8-, 9-noded isoparametric quadrilateral elements

Abstract

A finite element method based on Mindlin's theory is employed in the prediction of the dynamic transient response of multilayered composite sandwich plates. Numerical convergence and stability of 4-noded linear, 8-noded serendipity, and 9-noded Lagrangian elements are established using an explicit time integration technique. A special mass matrix diagonalization scheme is adopted which conserves the total mass of the element and includes the effects due to rotary inertia terms. The parametric effects of the time step, finite element mesh, lamination scheme, and orthotropy on the transient response are investigated. Numerical results for deflections and stresses are presented under various boundary conditions and loadings. The results presented herein should be of interest to composite-structure designers, experimentalists, and numerical analysists in verifying their results.