Thermal-Based Free Vibration and Buckling Behavior of Bio-inspired Cross- and Double-Helicoidal/Bouligand Laminated Composite Plates

Inspired by living organisms, helicoidal structures are becoming increasingly important in replacing the conventional lamination scheme to enhance the toughness, strength, and stiffness of laminates. In helicoidal laminated composites, each layer is rotated by a specific angle with respect to the previous layer. In the present study, an attempt has been carried out to compare the free vibration and buckling behavior of the double-helicoidal and cross-helicoidal bio-inspired laminated composite plates under thermal conditions. The influence of lamination scheme, aspect ratio, end conditions, thermal conditions, side-to-thickness ratio, and skew angle on the free vibration and buckling behavior of the plate is investigated. The performance of helicoidal laminated composite plates is compared with that of cross-ply and quasi-isotropic laminates. The study reveals that the helicoidal composites outperform the cross-ply and quasi-isotropic laminates. In most cases studied, the cross-helicoidal plate exhibits stiff behavior.