Hygrothermal response on parametric instability of delaminated bidirectional composite flat panels

The present study deals with the finite element analysis of parametric instability characteristics of delaminated bidirectional Glass/Epoxy composite panels exposed to hygrothermal field with harmonic in-plane loading based on first order shear deformation theory. An 8-noded isoparametric finite element model was developed which takes account of the influences of area delamination and hygrothermal environment for predicting dynamic instability regions of composite flat panels. Validation of numerical results from finite element analysis was done with those available from previous researches. The influences of various parameters like static load factor, area of delamination, temperature, moisture, fiber orientations, boundary conditions and stacking sequence on the dynamic instability regions of bidirectional Glass/Epoxy flat panels were investigated. Significant effects of these parameters on the dynamic stability characteristics of composite plates were observed and discussed.