Free vibration analysis of variable stiffness composite laminated thin skew plates using IGA

A NURBS-based isogeometric finite element formulation is developed and adopted to the free vibration analysis of finite square and skew laminated plates. Variable stiffness plies are assumed due to implementation of curvilinear fiberreinforcements. It is assumed due to employment of tow placement technology, in each ply of variable stiffness composite laminated plate the fiber reinforcement orientation angle is changed linearly with respect to longitudinal geometry coordinate. The classic plate theory is utilized for structural model description. The cubic NURBS basis functions are employed to approximate the geometry of the plate while simultaneously serve as the shape functions for solution field approximation in the analysis. To show the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed formulation, some representativeresults are extracted and compared to similar items available in the literature. The effects of curvilinear fiber angles, different geometries and various end constraints are evaluated on the variable stiffness composite laminated skew panel behavior.