Thermo-elastic stability of angle-ply laminates - application of layerwise finite elements

Abstract

In this paper thermal buckling analysis of angle-ply laminates is analysed using Generalized Layerwise Plate Theory (GLPT) of Reddy, /1/. The finite element solution is derived from the weak form of the problem. The nine-node Lagrangian isoparametric finite element is used to derive the element stiffness matrix and geometric stiffness matrix. The originally coded MATLAB programme is used to analyse the effects of side to thickness ratio a/b, aspect ratio a/b, ply-orientation angle theta, modulus ratio E-1/E-2, thermal expansion coefficient ratio. alpha(2)/alpha(1,) temperature distribution and different boundary conditions, on thermoelastic stability of laminated composite plates. The accuracy of the numerical model is verified by comparison with the available results from the literature.