Isogeometric nonlinear bending and buckling analysis of variable-thickness composite plate structures

This paper investigates nonlinear bending and buckling behavior of composite plates characterized by a thickness variation. Layer interfaces are described as functions of inplane coordinates. Top and bottom surfaces of the plate are symmetric about the midplane and the plate could be considered as a flat surface in analysis along with thickness parameters which vary over the plate. The variable thickness at a certain position in the midplane is modeled by a set of control thickness parameters through NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) basic functions. The knot parameter space which is referred in modeling geometry and approximating displacement variables is employed for approximating thickness, simultaneously. The use of quadratic NURBS functions results in C1 continuity of modeling variable thickness and analyzing solutions. Thin to moderately thick laminates in bound of first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) are taken into account. Strain-displacement relations in sense of von-Karman theory are employed for large deformation. Riks method is used for geometrically nonlinear analysis. The weak form is approximated numerically by the isogeometric analysis (IGA), which was recently found to be a robust, stable and realistic numerical tool. Numerical results confirm high reliability and capacity of the present method.