Design and analysis of a smart graded fiber-reinforced composite laminated plate

The present work deals with the design of a graded fiber-reinforced composite lamina and graded laminates with an objective of reduced inter-laminar stress-discontinuity in composite laminates. First, the micro-structure of composite lamina is designed and its graded elastic properties are predicted. Next, its utility is demonstrated through the proposition of a new lamination scheme in which a conventional laminated composite plate (CLCP) is converted to a graded laminated composite plate (GLCP). The usefulness of the present design in attaining continuous stresses at the inter-laminar surface of composite laminates is verified through a static analysis. For conversion of a CLCP into a GLCP, the changes in the dynamic characteristics are also presented by analyzing the nonlinear frequency responses of CLCP/GLCP integrated with a layer of active constrained layer damping (ACLD). The dynamic analysis clarifies the suitability of proposed lamination scheme for the use of GLCP under transverse harmonic loads. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.