On Numerical Flexural Behaviour of Hybrid Composite Shallow Shell Panels with Experimental Validation

In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate the static behaviour of hybrid multilayered composite shell structure using experimental and numerical approaches. The governing differential equation for bending is developed using the concept of finite element and higher-order kinematics. In continuation, five sets of glass-banana fibre hybrid composites are prepared by changing the stacking order of fibres, and the elastic constants needed for bending analysis are obtained experimentally. Additionally, model verification is conducted by comparing the deflection response obtained from the present model with that of experimentally obtained and also validated with the available published work. Due to the limitation of experimental work, because the repetition of experiment for various sets of composites in parametric investigation requires more time and cost, the proposed numerical model is employed in further investigations. The influence of various geometrical parameters, material parameter and constraint conditions on different types of shell panels are also investigated and discussed in detail. Such type of detailed parametric study of natural fibre-based hybrid composite will be beneficial in promotion of developed hybrid composite in future structural applications.