Study on the actuation force of triangular bistable composite laminates

Morphing multistable structures is treated as computationally complex smart structures, which can show reconfigurable stable configurations for the changes in surrounding loads. Shape morphing structures exhibit various equilibrium stable shapes and require actuation energy for the shape transition during its structural performance. The major geometries of individual unsymmetric laminates studied so far were either rectangular or square. This paper attempts to study the behaviour of bistable shapes obtained from triangular shape unsymmetrical composite laminates for morphing applications. Snap through between the simulated bistable shapes is obtained by applying a transverse point load on the surface of the laminate. A detailed parametric study is performed to identify the effect of geometrical parameters on the snap-through force of triangular laminates. All numerical investigations are performed using a commercially available finite element software, Abaqus.