Nonlinear free vibration analysis of composite plates with material uncertainties: A Monte Carlo simulation approach

In this paper, the effects of dispersion in material properties on free vibration response of composite plates with geometric nonlinearity in von-Karman sense are investigated. The higher order shear deformation theory is employed for the study reported here. An efficient C0 finite element formulation is developed for the analysis. Using Monte Carlo simulation, the second order statistics i.e., mean and standard deviation of the nonlinear free vibration response of the composite laminates are obtained for different thickness and amplitude ratios. The input statistics (mean and variance) of the material property are assumed to be known as a priori. The computed results demonstrate the influence of the variations in the material properties and amplitudes on the nonlinear free vibration response of the composite plates. The results are compared with those available in the literature.