Experimental and numerical investigation on large deformation reconstruction of thin laminated composite structures using inverse finite element method

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Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2022.109485

The inverse finite element method (iFEM) is one of the best candidates to perform displacement monitoring (shape sensing) of structures using a set of on-board/embedded strain sensors. This study demonstrates the high efficiency, robustness, and accuracy of the iFEM approach to reconstruct geometrically non-linear deformations of thin laminated plates and shells by performing experimental measurements and numerical analyses. The iFEM formulation is derived based on the first-order shear deformation theory of plates. A weighted least-squares variational principle is utilized with incremental non-linear strains while performing the geometrical update of the model using predicted incremental deformations. Moreover, a quadrilateral inverse-shell element (iQS4) is employed to discretize the whole domain of the laminated panels and solve the numerical/experimental shape-sensing problems. Further, a polynomial strain pre-extrapolation technique is incorporated with the iQS4 formulation to smoothen the discrete strain data obtained from a few strain rosettes placed along the entire length of the structures. For each case study, a high-fidelity finite element analysis is performed to establish a reference displacement solution. Finally, the qualitative and quantitative comparison of reconstructed displacement results with reference solutions confirms the superior potential of the iFEM-iQS4 approach for full-field shape sensing of thin laminates undergoing non-linear deformations.