Nonlinear and chaotic oscillations of composite plates and shells under periodic heat load (Q1913278)

We present a computer simulation of nonlinear dynamic oscillations of laminated composite plates and shells under the action of a periodic heat load. We show that the inclusion of the geometrical stiffness accounting for certain membrane forces caused by a thermal gradient in conjunction with damping forces can trigger thermal oscillations with an explosive growth of amplitudes that can eventually lead to erratic, irregular and even catastrophic response. We address both plates and shells in which damping forces are accounted for. The nonlinear thermoelastic dynamic problem is solved using an implicit cubic Hermitian scheme which can easily accommodate a change of material properties with temperature. All computations are conducted with the multilayer flat triangular shell element LACOT which comprises six natural rigid-body and twelve straining modes.