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.