Effect of degree of orthotropy on transverse deflection of composite laminates under thermal load

Abstract

The effect of degree of orthotropy on transverse deflection of orthotropic and antisymmetric laminated plates under uniformly distributed thermal load has been presented by using trigonometric shear deformation theory. The effect of the ratio of thermal expansion coefficients on the central deflection of orthotropic and two layer antisymmetric laminated plates under thermal load has been studied and presented in this paper. The in-plane displacement field uses sinusoidal function in terms of thickness co-ordinate to include the shear deformation effect. The present theory obviates the need of shear correction factor and satisfies the shear stress free boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate. Using principal of virtual work, governing equations and boundary conditions of the theory are obtained. Numerical results of transverse deflection obtained by present theory are compared with first order shear deformation theory and classical plate theory.