Geometrically nonlinear forced vibrations of the symmetric honeycomb sandwich panels affected by the water

Geometrically nonlinear forced vibrations of the symmetric rectangular honeycomb sandwich panels with the four edges simply supported and one surface affected by the water are investigated in this paper using the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The honeycomb core of hexagonal cells is modeled as a thick layer of orthotropic material whose physical and mechanical properties are determined using the Gibson correlations. The effect of water acting on honeycomb panels can be described as added mass, additional damping and additional stiffness coefficients which are obtained by the semi-analytical fluid pressures. The basic formulation of nonlinear forced vibrations has been developed base on the third-order shear deformation plate theory and Green Lagrange nonlinear strain–displacement relation. The equilibrium equations have been obtained using the Hamilton’s principle. Effects of water velocity, height and height ratio on the nonlinear forced vibration response have been studied for the honeycomb sandwich panels.