Numerically validated reduced-order model for laminates containing shape memory alloy wire meshes

Abstract

The incorporation of active materials into composites is an active area of research. However, the design and optimization of such composites is challenging because detailed analysis using finite element analysis (FEA) is computationally intensive. This work presents a new reduced-order model for laminates containing shape memory alloy (SMA) wire meshes that significantly reduces the computational burden on design analysis while maintaining good accuracy. The approach is based on a foundation of classical laminated plate theory (CLPT). It considers fully non-linear stress distributions and incorporates a detailed phenomenological model of the hysteretic SMA constitutive behavior. The reduced-order CLPT-based model and its numerical implementation are fully described and unique laminate responses are presented. The model is validated against a corresponding high-fidelity FEA model of an SMA-based laminate. The reduced-order model produces accurate predictions at significantly less expense than the high-fidelity FEA approach, with normalized root-mean-squared error below 10% for most design cases.