Real Time Finite Element Simulation of Thick and Thin Sandwich Plate with Viscoelastic Core and Embedded SMA Wires

In this paper, nonlinear dynamic analysis of sandwich plate with viscoelastic and flexible core and shape memory alloy embedded composite face sheets is performed. In order to simulate the dynamic behavior of sandwich plate, a higher order global-local theory based on the superposition principle is used. One of the most important advantage of presented theory is considering the thickness variation and transverse shear stresses, which is especially necessary in the study of thick sandwiches with soft core. In order to simulate the behavior of the shape memory alloy (SMA) wires, material properties variation are considered continuously in whole of the plate. In order to accurately investigate the behavior of the shape memory alloy, a written code is using an algorithm for solving the dynamic phase transformation base on modified Brinson model. The kinematic equations of phase transformation of embedded SMA wires are coupled with the equations of motion that leads to the nonlinearity and complexity of the equations. So to solve the equations, a development iterative method based on the formulation of nonlinear transient finite elements method with a dynamic phase transformation algorithm is used. The results show that the vibration amplitude of the sandwich plate is reduced due to energy dissipation because of the phase transformation of the SMA wires. Also, the core of the sandwich plate is considered of viscoelastic material. Due to the specific properties of the viscoelastic materials, the dynamic behavior of the structure and its consequence, the overall damping of the structure is affected. One of the previously unexplored studies is the simultaneous investigation of the damping effect of viscoelastic cores and embedded SMA wires. In other words, in this case, the sandwich plate has two different damping mechanisms with different function and nature that affect each other.