Refined structural theories for dynamic analysis of composite structures subjected to random excitation

This paper presents the application of the finite element method to analyze the dynamic response of aerospace structures subjected to random excitations. The focus is on using refined structural models to investigate the accuracy of higher-order theories employing the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF). This formulation enables finite element solutions based on arbitrary kinematic models to be generated with ease. In this paper, the solution scheme is based on the use of power and cross-spectral densities adopting the modal reduction strategy for reducing the computational burden. The response of a sandwich cantilever beam and a laminated beam excited by a white noise are studied. The results prove the ability of refined models to capture dynamic responses at low and high frequencies. Furthermore, higher-order models show a more accurate solution.