A C0-type zig–zag theory and finite element for laminated composite and sandwich plates with general configurations

Abstract

In order to conveniently develop C0 continuous element for the accurate analysis of laminated composite and sandwich plates with general configurations, this paper develops a C0-type zig–zag theory in which the interlaminar continuity of transverse shear stresses is a priori satisfied and the number of unknowns is independent of the number of layers. The present theory is applicable not only to the cross-ply but also to the angle-ply laminated composite and sandwich plates. On the premise of retaining the merit of previous zig–zag theories, the derivatives of transverse displacement have been taken out from the displacement fields. Therefore, based on the proposed zig–zag theory, it is very easy to construct the C0 continuous element. To assess the performance of the proposed model, the classical quadratic six-node triangular element with seven degrees of freedom at each node is presented for the static analysis of laminated composite and sandwich plates. The typical examples are taken into account to assess the performance of finite element based on the proposed zig–zag theory by comparing the present results with the three-dimensional elasticity solutions. Numerical results show that the present model can produce the more accurate deformations and stresses compared with the previous zig–zag theories.