Title: Free vibration and buckling analysis of laminated composite plates with cutouts of complicated shapes

Authors: Leena Sinha; Rudra Narayan Nayak; Amar Nath Nayak

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Sambalpur, Odisha, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India ' KMBB College of Engineering and Technology, Daleiput, Khurda, 752056, Odisha, India

Abstract: This analysis commences with the formulation of a finite element model for laminated composite plates, taking into account the influences of aspect ratio, fiber orientation, and material anisotropy on the free vibration and buckling responses. This research additionally explores the impact of different shapes (circle, square, diamond and complicated) and sizes of cut-outs on the free vibration and buckling characteristics. The current analysis employs the four-nodded doubly curved shell S4R element from ABAQUS library featuring reduced integration and hourglass control. The present investigation focuses several studies, i.e., study on the mesh convergence, comparison with existing literature and effect of various parameters. It is observed from the study that various parameters considered here including shape and size of complicated cut-outs have substantial impact on the natural frequencies and buckling load of composite plates. The outcomes of this study will be very much helpful in the personalisation of laminated composite plate designs.

Keywords: complicated cut-out; critical buckling load; finite element modelling; laminated composite plates; natural frequency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2026.151678

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2026 Vol.16 No.1, pp.46 - 72

Received: 20 Jan 2025
Accepted: 26 Jun 2025
Published online: 13 Feb 2026 *

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