The impact of the cut-out shape on the dynamic behavior of composite thin circular plates

Abstract

This study measures the impact of the cut-out shape on the fundamental frequency and the harmonic response of thin composite circular plates under fixed boundary conditions. For this purpose, the Finite Element Method has been employed using the SHELL181 element of ANSYS Workbench 18.2 software. Nine different circular plates having central equilateral triangle, square, regular pentagon, regular hexagon, regular heptagon, regular octagon, regular nonagon, regular decagon, and circular cut-outs have been designed to understand the changes in the vibrational behavior of a structure as the cut-out geometry approximates to circular. Additionally, a solid circular plate has been modelled for comparison purposes. To investigate the effect of the cut-out shape more deeply, all structures have been designed as cross-ply and angle-ply composites. The free vibration analysis has been performed to obtain the fundamental frequency of each structure. The harmonic response analysis problem has been solved by employing the Mode Superposition Method and considering a constant damping ratio. The results of the study have been interpreted by considering the displacement response, stress, and phase shifts at a certain frequency range. The results indicate that the shape of the cut-out considerably affects the fundamental frequency and harmonic response of the circular structure regardless of its fiber orientation.