Structural Geometry Optimization and Dynamic Analysis of Auxetic Sandwich Plate and Shell Panels

In this paper, the geometric parameters of the thin sandwich plate and shell panels with auxetic honeycomb core are optimized for the fundamental frequency. The dynamic analysis is carried out considering a higher-order shear deformation theory and employing a [Formula: see text] eight-noded isoparametric element with nine degrees of freedom per node. The artificial bee colony algorithm is used to optimize the natural frequency parameter of the auxetic core of the sandwich panel. In this study, geometric parameters (viz., rib thickness, inclined cell angle, vertical cell rib length, inclined cell rib length, and core thickness) of the honeycomb core are optimized to obtain the optimum fundamental frequency of the sandwich shell panels. The analysis is extended by varying the ratio of density of the facesheet and auxetic core materials to obtain optimal values of the geometric parameters of the auxetic honeycomb core. Further the sensitivity analysis of the sandwich shell panels for the aspect ratio is examined. The analysis is carried out for three and five layers with different facesheet-auxetic core arrangements and boundary conditions.