Symmetries in laminated composite plates

The different types of symmetry exhibited by laminated anisotropic fibrous composite plates are identified and contrasted with the symmetries of isotropic and homogeneous orthotropic plates. The effects of variations in the fiber orientation and the stacking sequence of the layers on the symmetries exhibited by composite plates are discussed. Both the linear and geometrically nonlinear responses of the plates are considered. A simple procedure is presented for exploiting the symmetries in the finite element analysis. Examples are given of square, skew and polygonal plates where use of symmetry concepts can significantly reduce the scope and cost of analysis

Keberkesanan penggunaan edubase dalam kalangan pelajar teknikal yang berbeza gaya kognitif, afektif dan psikomotor di Politeknik Malaysia

Bahan bantu pengajaran yang digunakan secara bersesuaian dengan pelajar menyumbang kepada perkembangan pembelajaran mereka. Dalam dunia pendidikan teknikal, aspek kognitif dan psikomotor turut memberi kesan kepada kualiti pembelajaran pelajar. Kajian ini membincangkan tentang kesan penggunaan EDUBASE terhadap pencapaian dan minat pelajar yang mempunyai gaya kognitif, afektif dan psikomotor yang berbeza dalam topik Electromagnetism. Seramai 70 orang pelajar politeknik yang terdiri daripada 33 pelajar kumpulan rawatan dan 37 pelajar kumpulan kawalan telah terlibat dalam kajian yang menggunakan kaedah kuasi-ekperimen ini. Ujian kognitif, psikomotor, ujian pra-pasca dan kaji selidik telah diagihkan untuk memantau kesan penggunaan EDUBASE terhadap pelajar. Dapatan kajian ini telah dianalisis dengan menggunakan statistik MANCOVA, korelasi Pearson dan skor min. Hasil dapatan dalam kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa terdapat perbezaan yang tidak signifikan secara statistik bagi skor pelajar kumpulan kawalan dan kumpulan rawatan. Namun, skor min menunjukkan kumpulan rawatan memberikan skor yang lebih cemerlang dan minat mereka juga turut meningkat dalam topik pembelajaran tersebut berbanding pelajar yang mengaplikasikan pembelajaran secara konvensional. Selain itu, hasil dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan terdapat hubungan yang signifikan terhadap minat dan pencapaian. Di samping itu, EDUBASE yang diaplikasikan telah memenuhi keperluan dan minat pelajar. Secara ringkasnya, hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa penggunaan EDUBASE sebagai alat bahan bantu mengajar dilihat berkesan dalam memberikan kecemerlangan pencapaian dan meningkatkan minat pelajar politeknik terhadap topik Electromagnetism

Knowledge management initiatives, innovation and GLC performance

A model of knowledge management initiatives, innovation and performance evaluation was developed and tested on listed Malaysian Government-Linked companies (GLC). Data collected from 273 employees representing the three different levels of management were subjected to structural equation modeling analysis. The proposed model fits the data well. Results indicate that employees perceived knowledge management initiatives as important antecedents of innovation in the GLC, and innovation in return resulted in better organizational performance

Comparison of finite-difference schemes for analysis of shells of revolution

Several finite difference schemes are applied to the stress and free vibration analysis of homogeneous isotropic and layered orthotropic shells of revolution. The study is based on a form of the Sanders-Budiansky first-approximation linear shell theory modified such that the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia are included. A Fourier approach is used in which all the shell stress resultants and displacements are expanded in a Fourier series in the circumferential direction, and the governing equations reduce to ordinary differential equations in the meridional direction. While primary attention is given to finite difference schemes used in conjunction with first order differential equation formulation, comparison is made with finite difference schemes used with other formulations. These finite difference discretization models are compared with respect to simplicity of application, convergence characteristics, and computational efficiency. Numerical studies are presented for the effects of variations in shell geometry and lamination parameters on the accuracy and convergence of the solutions obtained by the different finite difference schemes. On the basis of the present study it is shown that the mixed finite difference scheme based on the first order differential equation formulation and two interlacing grids for the different fundamental unknowns combines a number of advantages over other finite difference schemes previously reported in the literature

Free vibrations of laminated composite elliptic plates

The free vibrations are studied of laminated anisotropic elliptic plates with clamped edges. The analytical formulation is based on a Mindlin-Reissner type plate theory with the effects of transverse shear deformation, rotary inertia, and bending-extensional coupling included. The frequencies and mode shapes are obtained by using the Rayleigh-Ritz technique in conjunction with Hamilton's principle. A computerized symbolic integration approach is used to develop analytic expressions for the stiffness and mass coefficients and is shown to be particularly useful in evaluating the derivatives of the eigenvalues with respect to certain geometric and material parameters. Numerical results are presented for the case of angle-ply composite plates with skew-symmetric lamination

Hybrid perturbation/Bubnov-Galerkin technique for nonlinear thermal analysis

A two step hybrid analysis technique to predict the nonlinear steady state temperature distribution in structures and solids is presented. The technique is based on the regular perturbation expansion and the classical Bubnov-Galerkin approximation. The functions are obtained by using the regular perturbation method. These functions are selected as coordinate functions and the classical Bubnov-Galerkin technique is used to compute their amplitudes. The potential of the proposed hybrid technique for the solution of nonlinear thermal problems is discussed. The effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated by the effects of conduction, convection, and radiation modes of heat transfer. It is indicated that the hybrid technique overcomes the two major drawbacks of the classical techniques: (1) the requirement of using a small parameter in the regular perturbation method; and (2) the arbitrariness in the choice of the coordinate functions in the Bubnov-Galerkin technique. The proposed technique extends the range of applicability of the regular perturbation method and enhances the effectiveness of the Bubnov-Galerkin technique

A computerized symbolic integration technique for development of triangular and quadrilateral composite shallow-shell finite elements

Computerized symbolic integration was used in conjunction with group-theoretic techniques to obtain analytic expressions for the stiffness, geometric stiffness, consistent mass, and consistent load matrices of composite shallow shell structural elements. The elements are shear flexible and have variable curvature. A stiffness (displacement) formulation was used with the fundamental unknowns consisting of both the displacement and rotation components of the reference surface of the shell. The triangular elements have six and ten nodes; the quadrilateral elements have four and eight nodes and can have internal degrees of freedom associated with displacement modes which vanish along the edges of the element (bubble modes). The stiffness, geometric stiffness, consistent mass, and consistent load coefficients are expressed as linear combinations of integrals (over the element domain) whose integrands are products of shape functions and their derivatives. The evaluation of the elemental matrices is divided into two separate problems - determination of the coefficients in the linear combination and evaluation of the integrals. The integrals are performed symbolically by using the symbolic-and-algebraic-manipulation language MACSYMA. The efficiency of using symbolic integration in the element development is demonstrated by comparing the number of floating-point arithmetic operations required in this approach with those required by a commonly used numerical quadrature technique