Homogenization and dimensional reduction of composite plates with in-plane heterogeneity

The variational asymptotic method is used to construct a new model for composite plates which could have in-plane heterogeneity due to both geometry and material. We first formulate the original three-dimensional problem in an intrinsic form which is suitable for geometrically nonlinear analysis. Taking advantage of smallness of the plate thickness and heterogeneity, we use the variational asymptotic method to rigorously construct an effective plate model unifying a homogenization process and a dimensional reduction process. This approach is implemented in the computer code VAPAS using the finite element technique for the purpose of dealing with realistic heterogeneous plates. A few examples are used to demonstrate the capability of this new model. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.