Postbuckling of Shape Memory Alloy Reinforced Cross-Ply and Angle-Ply Laminated Plates

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe effect of shape memory alloy (SMA) on the postbuckling behavior of rectangular cross-ply and angle-ply plates by varying the SMA fiber spacing was investigated using the Finite Element Method. The formulation of the location-dependent linear, nonlinear stiffness matrices due to non-homogeneous material properties and the temperature-dependent recovery stress stiffness matrix were derived. Numerical results show that the increase of SMA fiber volume fraction and prestrain may generate more recovery stress, and increase the stiffness of SMA reinforced composite laminate. Therefore, the postbuckling deflections of the plate may be decreased significantly. The buckling mode that plate will buckle into is dependent on the fiber orientation of the angle-ply laminates. When the SMA fibers are concentrated in the center of the plate, the postbuckling deflections of the plate will be decreased considerably.