Efficiency considerations in a new multilength scale plate theory with delamination

Abstract

Efficiency and accuracy considerations in a new type of multi-length scale theory for the analysis of laminated plates in the presence of delaminations are examined within the context of the cylindrical bending problem. The theoretical framework is based on the use of a two-length scale displacement field obtained from a superposition of arbitrary forms of global and local displacement effects. This framework introduces a unique coupling between the length scales and represents a novel two-length scale or local-global approach to plate analysis. Given the theory's ability to utilize different combinations of the global and local displacement effects it is important to have some insight into how the local and global displacement effects interact. It is shown that the present theory can accurately predict the overall through the thickness distributions of the displacement components and the axial stress using computationally efficient combinations of the global and local displacement fields. To accurately predict the transverse displacements directly from the constitutive equations it is necessary to utilize moderate expansions for both types of displacement fields. However, if somewhat less accuracy is acceptable it is shown that more computationally efficient combinations can provide reasonable estimates of these stresses.