Influence of initial imperfection and coupling between bending and extension on vibration, buckling and nonlinear dynamic stability of laminated plates

In this paper, the influence of initial imperfection and coupling between b ending and extension on vibration, buckling and nonlinear dynamic stability of laminated plates is studied. The governing equation is derived. It is a nonlinear modified Mathieu Equation. Numerical solutions of 5 typical comp osite materials namely, Glass-epoxy Scotch-1002, Aramid-epoxy Kevlar-49, Bo ron-epoxy B4-5505, Graphite-epoxy T300-5208 and AS-3501 are computed. Resul ts reveal that the existence of initial imperfection, and also coupling eff ect, make the plates much more sensitive to entering parametric resonance w ith amplitude greater than that of perfect plates. Coupling effect for diff erent composite laminates, especially, for that with few layers, is differe nt. If coupling effect is neglected, the design of plate structures for buc kling and dynamic stability would unconservatively be for more than 10%.