Carrera unified formulation (CUF) for the micropolar plates and shells. I. Higher order theory

Abstract

Starting from the variational principle of virtual power for the 3-D equations of the micropolar theory of elasticity in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates and using generalized series in terms of the plate thickness coordinates a new higher order model of orthotropic micropolar plates and shells have been developed here. Following Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), the stress and strain tensors, as well as the vectors of displacements and rotation, have been expanded into series in terms of the shell thickness coordinates. Then, all the equations of the micropolar theory of elasticity (including generalized Hooke’s law) have been transformed to the corresponding equations for the coefficients of the series expansion on the plate thickness coordinates. A system of differential equations in terms of the displacements and rotation vectors and natural boundary conditions for the coefficients of the series expansion of the shell thickness coordinates have been obtained in the same way as in the classical theory of elasticity. All equations for the higher order theory of micropolar plates and shells have been developed and presented here. The obtained equations can be used for calculating the stress-strain and for modeling thin walled structures in macro, micro, and nanoscale when taking into account micropolar couple stress and rotation effects.