An assessment of five modeling approaches for thermo-mechanical stress analysis of laminated composite panels

Abstract A study is made of the effects of variation in the lamination and geometric parameters, and boundary conditions of multi-layered composite panels on the accuracy of the detailed response characteristics obtained by five different modeling approaches. The modeling approaches considered include four two-dimensional models, each with five parameters to characterize the deformation in the thickness direction, and a predictor-corrector approach with twelve displacement parameters. The two-dimensional models are first-order shear deformation theory, third-order theory; a theory based on trigonometric variation of the transverse shear stresses through the thickness, and a discrete layer theory. The combination of the following four key elements distinguishes the present study from previous studies reported in the literature: (1) the standard of comparison is taken to be the solutions obtained by using three-dimensional continuum models for each of the individual layers; (2) both mechanical and thermal loadings are considered; (3) boundary conditions other than simply supported edges are considered; and (4) quantities compared include detailed through-the-thickness distributions of transverse shear and transverse normal stresses.Based on the numerical studies conducted, the predictor-corrector approach appears to be the most effective technique for obtaining accurate transverse stresses, and for thermal loading, none of the two-dimensional models is adequate for calculating transverse normal stresses, even when used in conjunction with three-dimensional equilibrium equations.

[1]  Ahmed K. Noor,et al.  Assessment of computational models for multilayered anisotropic plates , 1990 .

[2]  M. D. Sciuva,et al.  BENDING, VIBRATION AND BUCKLING OF SIMPLY SUPPORTED THICK MULTILAYERED ORTHOTROPIC PLATES: AN EVALUATION OF A NEW DISPLACEMENT MODEL , 1986 .

[3]  Ahmed K. Noor,et al.  Assessment of Shear Deformation Theories for Multilayered Composite Plates , 1989 .

[4]  T. Chow,et al.  On the Propagation of Flexural Waves in an Orthotropic Laminated Plate and Its Response to an Impulsive Load , 1971 .

[5]  Paul Seide,et al.  An approximate semi-analytical method for prediction of interlaminar shear stresses in an arbitrarily laminated thick plate , 1987 .

[6]  Reaz A. Chaudhuri,et al.  An equilibrium method for prediction of transverse shear stresses in a thick laminated plate , 1986 .

[7]  Ahmed K. Noor,et al.  Evaluation of Transverse Thermal Stresses in Composite Plates Based on First-Order Shear Deformation Theory , 1998 .

[8]  Ahmed K. Noor,et al.  Predictor-corrector procedures for stress and free vibration analysis of multilayered composite plates and shells , 1990 .

[9]  A. Leissa.  A Review of Laminated Composite Plate Buckling , 1987 .

[10]  M. Di Sciuva,et al.  An Improved Shear-Deformation Theory for Moderately Thick Multilayered Anisotropic Shells and Plates , 1987 .

[11]  M. Stein,et al.  Nonlinear theory for plates and shells including the effects of transverse shearing , 1986 .

[12]  Tarun Kant,et al.  A Simple Finite Element Formulation of a Higher-order Theory for Unsymmetrically Laminated Composite Plates , 1988 .

[13]  R. Bellman,et al.  DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE: A TECHNIQUE FOR THE RAPID SOLUTION OF NONLINEAR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS , 1972 .

[14]  A. V. Krishna Murty,et al.  On higher order shear deformation theory of laminated composite panels , 1987 .

[15]  M. Touratier,et al.  An efficient standard plate theory , 1991 .

[16]  C. Bert,et al.  A NEW APPROACH TO THE DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHOD FOR FOURTH‐ORDER EQUATIONS , 1997 .

[17]  A. Noor,et al.  Accurate determination of transverse normal stresses in sandwich panels subjected to thermomechanical loadings , 1999 .

[18]  Gennady M. Kulikov,et al.  General direction of development of the theory of multilayered shells , 1988 .

[19]  Ozden O. Ochoa,et al.  Through‐the‐thickness stress predictions for laminated plates of advanced composite materials , 1985 .

[20]  J. Reddy.  Mechanics of laminated composite plates : theory and analysis , 1997 .

[21]  L. K. Stevens,et al.  A Higher Order Theory for Free Vibration of Orthotropic, Homogeneous, and Laminated Rectangular Plates , 1984 .

[22]  J. Whitney,et al.  Shear Correction Factors for Orthotropic Laminates Under Static Load , 1973 .

[23]  Raimund Rolfes,et al.  Improved transverse shear stresses in composite finite elements based on first order shear deformation theory , 1997 .

[24]  Vladimír Panc,et al.  Theories of elastic plates , 1975 .

[25]  J. Whitney,et al.  The Effect of Transverse Shear Deformation on the Bending of Laminated Plates , 1969 .

[26]  J. N. Reddy,et al.  A plate bending element based on a generalized laminate plate theory , 1988 .

[27]  Tarun Kant,et al.  A CONSISTENT REFINED THEORY FOR FLEXURE OF A SYMMETRIC LAMINATE , 1987 .

[28]  C. Bert,et al.  Differential Quadrature Method in Computational Mechanics: A Review , 1996 .