Thermal deformation and stress analysis of composite laminated plates by finite element method

Abstract

Thermal deformations and stresses, induced by a non-uniform temperature field in composite laminated plates, are studied by the finite element method. The stiffness matrix and load vector are derived based on the minimum potential energy. All three displacements of the middle surface are expressed as products of one-dimensional first-order Hermite interpolation polynomials. Numerical results are presented as non-dimensional curves. The effects of boundary conditions, temperature distributions, aspect ratios, and other parameters on the thermal deformations and stresses are investigated.