Isogeometric analysis of laminated composite plates using the higher-order shear deformation theory

Isogeometric analysis (IGA) aims at simplifying the computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE) pipeline by using the same functions to describe the geometry (CAD) and the unknown fields (Analysis). IGA can be based on a variety of CAD descriptions, the most widely used today being non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). In this article, the suitability of NURBS-based isogeometric analysis within a third-order shear deformation theory for the simulation of the static, dynamic, and buckling response of laminated composite plates is investigated. The method employs NURBS basis functions to both represent the geometry (exactly) and the unknown field variables. One of the main advantages of the present method is directly inherited from IGA, that is to easily increase the approximation order. To avoid using a shear correction factor, a third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT) is introduced. It requires C1-continuity of generalized displacements and the NURBS basis functions are well suited for this requirement. Several numerical examples are used to demonstrate the performance of the present method compared with other published ones.