Linear and Nonlinear Free Vibration and Optimal Design of Bio-Inspired Helicoidal CFRPC Laminated Plates

Bio-inspired helicoidal carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite (CFRPC) laminates stacked with Bouligand configurations are considered to own great potential in engineering fields. The optimization design of helicoidal layups with single-form and combination-form of linear and nonlinear helicoidal arrangements is carried out using ABAQUS and Isight. Two single-objective optimizations and one multi-objective optimization of maximum fundamental frequency and the difference among the first four adjacent vibration frequencies of helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates are performed and the nonlinear free vibration characteristics of optimal ones are investigated for the first time. Numerical studies are carried out for 16-ply symmetrical rectangular helicoidal laminated plates under two different boundary conditions compared with quasi-isotropic counterparts. The results show that the combination-form helicoidal layup sequences can improve the linear vibration characteristics of CFRPC laminated plates. The plates stacked with the combination form of nonlinear Fibonacci and linear patterns are expected to provide better vibration characteristics.