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

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.