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In this work, we propose to leverage the advantages of both the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based Second Order Reliability Method (SORM) and Importance sampling to yield an Adaptive Importance Sampling based ANN, with specific application towards failure probability and sensitivity estimates of Variable Stiffness Composite Laminate (VSCL) plates, in the presence of multiple independent geometric and material uncertainties. The performance function for the case studies is defined based on the fundamental frequency of the VSCL plate. The accuracy in both the reliability estimates and sensitivity studies using the proposed method were found to be in close agreement with that obtained using the ANN based brute-force MCS method, with a significant computational savings of 95\%. Moreover, the importance of taking into account the randomness in ply thickness for failure probability estimates is also highlighted quantitatively under the sensitivity studies section.

We develop a strain gradient plasticity formulation for composite materials with spatially varying volume fractions to characterize size effects in functionally graded materials (FGMs). The model is grounded on the mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity theory and effective properties are determined by means of a linear homogenization scheme. Several paradigmatic boundary value problems are numerically investigated to gain insight into the strengthening effects associated with plastic strain gradients and geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs). The analysis of bending in micro-size functionally graded foils shows a notably stiffer response with diminishing thickness. Micro-hardness measurements from indentation reveal a significant increase with decreasing indenter size. And large dislocation densities in the vicinity of the crack substantially elevate stresses in cracked FGM components. We comprehensively assess the influence of the length scale parameter and material gradation profile to accurately characterize the micro-scale response and identify regimes of GNDs relevance in FGMs., Comment: Composite Structures (2018)