Extension of a new approach towards accurate stress analysis of laminates subjected to thermomechanical loading

Abstract

The stress-analysis method presented in this paper is based on the extension of a successful, two-dimensional generalised laminate theory towards consideration of thermo-mechanical deformation effects. Like its conventional counterparts, that generalised equivalent-single-layer (ESL) laminate model makes use of a fixed and small number of unknowns. Its success is, however, based on the incorporation into its approximate, thermo-mechanical displacement field of the exact elasticity distributions available for corresponding simply supported structural components. With this incorporation, the ESL laminate model acquires benefits of a corresponding layer-wise theory. Most importantly, the proposed ESL theory and three-dimensional thermo-elasticity yield identical stress distributions for simply supported laminates. For other sets of edge boundary conditions, solutions and therefore detailed response characteristics that are based on such an ESL theory are accurate away of the laminate edges. If necessary, accuracy of detailed response characteristics can be further improved on a predictor–corrector basis.