\

~
Defence ScienJe Journal,
@ 1996, DESIDOC

Vol 46, No 1, January 1996, pp 3-8

I
Stress Analysis of Laminated
Composit~
Shear Flexible Element

T.her~al
I

M.
Institute

Ganapathi

of Armament
V.

Co'mbat

Vehicles
I

Research

and

B.P.

Technology,

Plates using

Patel
Pune-411

025

Balamurgan

& Development

Establishment,

Madras-600054

and
D.R.S.V.
I
IGas Turbine

Research

Varma

Establishment,

Bangalore-560

093

ABSTRACT
Using c shear fle~ible QUAD-9 plate element, stresses and deflections in composite laminated
plates due tQ thermal loads are analysed. A formulation based on first order shear deformation theory
has been emt'loyed for the analysis. The effects of various parameters, such as ply-angle, number of
layers, thickness and aspect ratios on stresses and deflectiohs are brought out. The present formulation
is being extended for studying composite shell structures.

I. INTRODUCTIO~
Composite

materials

are
I

being

looked

upon

as the

key answer to man's eternal search for better materials

to meet the exacting requirements of various critical
applicatioqs. By'virtue of their high strength-to-weight
and stiffn~ss-to-weight
ratios and because of their
I
mechanicfl prope~ties in various cjirections, they can
be tailored as per the }equirements. Further, they
combine

number

of

unique

pl/operties,

including

corrosion
resistance, high damping,
temperature
resistance and low thermal coeffi~ient of expansion.
These ut;1ique properties have resulled in the expanded
use of tpe advance composite materials in structures
subjecte,tl to severe thermal environment.
These
structures are usu.ally Iieferred to as high temperature
structures. Examples are provided by the structures
used inJ high speed aiTcraft, spacecraft and re-entry
vehicles, etc. However,
the inhomogeneity
and
anisotroJy of these materials pose a great challenge for
lilc dc!iigl1cr-unuly!it ulld ul1uly!ii~ l)[ Itcutcd CliiiIPll1;itc
structures remains anlarea of active research.

A large variety of computational/analytical

models
have been developed for studying the laminated
composite plates under mechanical loadings. However ,
the literature dealing with thermal loads on composite
struc~ures is meagre. The thermal stress analysis of
laminated composite plates is carried out using
analytical
approacheslo6. For problems
involving
complex boundary conditions and different types of
loads, analytical methods, are not easily applicable and
numerical methods, like finite element method (FEM),
are preferred. Investigations based on analysis by FEM
are reported in the literature7o11.
The effect of shear deformation,
depending on
geometrical and material properties, plays a significant
role in determining the global characteristics of the
structure. Hence, fori the finite I element analysis of
laminated structures, it is preferable to use a shear
flexible theory.
;
In this paper a simple, CO continuous, nine-noded
(1lllIllrilIItcrlll
1)1;ltc CIClllcllt hllhcll 011 1IIc ficl(1
consistency approach 12is employed to study the stress

Received 13 October 1994

,
I
DEF SCI J, VOL

46, NO 1, JANUARY

1996

analysis of laminated anisotropic plates suhjected to

thermal loads. ;rhe present model includes the effects
of shc:lr dcfornl:ltion.
The innllcncc
of v:lriO\ls
parameters, su~h as number of layers, ply-angle, aspect
and thickness ~atios and boundary conditions, on the
thermal stress behaviour of plates is brought out.
I
2. FORMULATION
A

laminated

composite

plate

is considered

with

the

coordinates x ,y along the in-plane directions and i along

the thickness direction. Using Mindlin formulation, the
displacements u, v, wat a point (x,y,z) from the median
surface are expressed as functions of mid-plane
displacements uo, Vo and independent rotations Ox and
Oyof the normal in xz and yz planes, respectively as
U(X.Y.Z,t) = u,,(x,y,t)+

z .(x,y,t)

v(x,y, z,t) = v,,(x,y ,t )+ z Oy(X,y,t )

w(x,y,z,t)=w(x,y,t)
Strains

based

on

shear

flexible

~heory.

are
I

-zeh

Je"l
{e}=l

(1)

E..

;J+

,
where (Aij)' (Bij and (Dip, t(i,j=1,2,6) are extensional,
bending-extensional
coupling and bending stiffness
coefficients, respectlvely of the composi,te laminate.
(NT) and (M1) are thermal stresses and moment
resultants. Similarly, the transverse shear force ( Q)
representing thf quantities ( Qxz, Qyz) are r~lated to the
transverse shear strains ( E~} through the constitutive
relations as'
I
,
,
I
(4)
where (Eij) (i,j=4,5) are the tranSverse'shear stiffness
coefficients of the laminate.
I
,
For a composite lamil;late of thickness h, consisting
of N layers with stacking angles ~i (i=l,N)
and layer
thickne5s hi (i= 1,N) , the necessary expressions to
compute the, stiffness coefficients, available in the
liteiaturel3,
are used here. The potential energy
functional U is given by

(2a)

The mid-plane strains { Ep' , and bending strains { Eb}

and shear strains { Es} in Eqn (2a) are written as
fe,,}-rl[ Bjj]{ e;}t{
I

Uu,x

e,,}T [ Djj ]{ eb} +{ e,,}T

Vu.y

,Uu.y

+vu.x

[Eij]~e,,}+{1;}T~NT}+{e,,}T{MT}]

(2b)

dA (5)

I
where O is the vtfctor of' degrees of freedom.
B .,.

{ eh} =

By,y

,B.,y

+By,.

(2c)

The minimisation of the, poten\iaL energy given by

Eqn (5) with respect to the genefalised displacement
vector O gives the following set ()f
, equations:
,
[K]{0}={FT}

(2d)

(6)

where [ K] and { FT} are stiffness

respectively.

where subscript comma denotes the partial derivative

with respect to the spatial cobrdinate succeeding it.
,
If (N) represents the m~mbrane stress resultants
(Nxx, Nyy, Nxy) and (M) the bending stress resultants
(Mxx, Myy, Mxy), one can relate these to membrane
strain ( Ep") and bending strains ( Eb) through the
constitutive relations as
1
4

matrix

and load vector ,

JL DESCRIPTIO~ OF TH~ ELEM~NT

f The laminated plate element employed

.in this

investigation is a CO coptinuous shear flexi~le element

and needs five nodal degrees of frredom u, v, w, Ox,
and Or at nine nodes in 'QUAD-9 element, as shown in
Fig.l.
r

GANAPATHf,

et a1:THliRMAL

SljRESS ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED

Thtj material properties used for the parametric ~tudy

are: EL/ET =40, GLT/Er = 0.5, GrrlEr = 0.2, vLT=0.25,
<XL
= <XT=1.0 X 10-6where L and tare the longitudinal

y,v
/

COMPOSITE PLATES

,
j,

and. transverse directions, respectively with respect to

the fibres. All the layers are of equal thickness and the
ply-angle
is measured
with
respect to x-axis
(longitudinal

By

axis).

I
The temperature distributionj
load, is assumed as I

without any external

8,
T(x.y

.z ) = (C" +C,z)T.(x,y

where
I
T,(x,y)

= 1;, +2T,y/

j
J
Figure

I.

and

coordinate

systems

of

and

If the interpolation fun<tions for QUAD-9 are used

directly to interpolate Ith~ five variables u to Oy in
deriving the shear strains and membrane strains, the
I
element will lock and show oscillations in the shear and
membrane stresses. Field ~onsistency reQuires that the
transverse shear strains a~d membrLane strain must be
interpolated in a consIstent manner. Thus u, v, Oxand
j
Or terms in the expressions for { Es} given in Eqn (2d)
have to be consistent with field functions w 'x and w'Y
as shown in the literatu~~12. This is achieved by using

u=w~e.

=0

on x :!: 0,8

=0

ony=O,b

=f}

are

constants.

To demonstrate the correctness of the present

formulation in solving the problems of thermal stress,
two cases for which closed form/exact solutions are
available, have been solved using present formulation
and results are compared with exact solutions.
Table

I.

Non-dimensional
plate

subjected

central

denection

to linear

temperature

w (=w/h)

of

isotropic

distribution

varying

through
condition

the thickness
for
simply
supported
boundary
(C. = To = I, Co = Ti = 0, v= 0.3, a:; I x I~,

E =

107, a/b = I, a/h

I x

= 100)

Present

Ref.l
Central -deflection

(wj

0.19079

x 10--1

0.19139

work

x 10-4

In Tabl-e 1, non-dimensional displacement w(= w/h)

at the centre of the plate (a/b = 1, a/h = 100) with
simply supported boundary conditions and subjected to
linear temperature distribution, is compared with those
of closed form/exact
solutionl.
The parameters
describing the temperature distribution are C1 = To = 1,
Co = Ti = 0, v=0.3, a= 1 x 10-6, E = 1 x 107. Next,
a laminated
plate with
sinusoidal
temperature
distribution
[T(x, y, z) =TI sin (7tx/a) sin(7ty/b)] is
considered for the analysis. The re~ults are compared
with those reported in the literatur~3 in Table 2. One
can observe from Tables 1 and 2 that the results based
on the present formulation agree well with the available

.I
~o utIOII~.

Clamped supported:
u=v;/:w=f}

COt C1t TOt Ti

substitute
shape-functiops .to
specific terms which must be

4. RESUL TS AND DISCUSSION

I
I
Structural repponse of laminated plates due to
temperaturle variation is considered here. For analysis,
unless othdrwise specified, one quarter of the plate with
2 x 2 mesh is assumed. The sheir forrection fat tor is
taken as 1/6. The ~ounda~y conditions considered for
the analysis are:
I
j
Simply supported:
I

b/2~y~b

laminated

plate element.,
I

v=w=(J

O~y~b/2

=1;,-2T,(y/b-l)

Geometry

field-redistributed,
interpolate
those
consistentl2

=0

on x =0,

and

y =O,h

j
Detailed
parametric
study is c~rried out for non
\I\1if()rm Icmpl'rjll\lrc
(lislrihttlio\1
( ~, ~ 1 I C1 ~ 1;, =0,
5

DEF SCI J, VOL 46, NO I, JANUARY

1996

,
I
Table 2. Central deflectIon or (OO/90o~O) plate subJected to
sInusoIdaltemperature dIstributed load ror sImply supported
boundary condItIon (C. -T. -0, C. -TI1, 11:1
~ 2~11:1,
G.1 -Gu ..0.5 El, GlJ = 0.2 El, Vil= 0.25, a./al= 3, a/b
= I, a/h= 10, R/8=~)
Ref. 4

Central deflection

Present

~
:0;

work

(W=10w/(alT1~

"I
1:0.

Two layers
Ten layers

1.15051

1.1504
1.0331

1.93338

TI =150). The results are presented along the line

xla=0.5. Figure 2 shows the variation of in-plane
displacement v = v!h in the y direction for different
aspect and thickness ratios for r simply-supported (45
1-45) laminate. It is observed from Fig. 2 that the
displacement
increases with
y ( = yl b) and is
antisymmetric about the centre line of the ptate for
alb~l whereas it is opposite for alb<l. Similar plot is
given in Fig. 3 for clamped six-layered angle-ply
( 45/-45/45/-45/451-45)
as well
as cross-ply
(0190%/9010/90) laminates. It is noticed from
Fig. 3 that the maximum displacement for angle-ply is
higher than that for the cross-ply plates. The stress and
moment resultants distributions are indicated in Figs

~
~
U
j
~
~
0

,0.0

0.2

o.~

0.6

0.8

COORDINATE,y

Figure 3.

Distribution
6 layers,

~f displacement

V=(y/h)

(a/h=

clamped).
I

0.0008

0.0004
~
II
1:.0

!i
~

0.0000

B
:5
~
~
0
-0.0001,

-0;0008
0.0

o.~

0.2

0.6

0.8

1.0

COORDINATE,y

Figure 2.

Distribution

of displacement

y=(y/h)

1.0

([45/-45],

simply supported).

t
-1-

100,

i
j
t

GAN~PATHI,

et al: THERMAL

STRESS

ANALYSIS

OF

LAMINATED

COMPOSITE

PL!s\TES

I
0.000020

OOIOO15
-a/h

-a/h

= 100

= lOO.
= 10

= 10
0.000010

o a/b = 1.00
~

0.000010

~
0.

00000\5

//

//

//

'

~
==>1

'*-,,\
,~
0000000

-0

= 0.75

~
<

, '\()"
"

rr.~;:/..*
~
::>
(I)

= 1.50

/"'~

--a---~
"'-~
"

:::t

0.000000

!2:
~
~
0

-O.OOOOOSr

!l::1
~
~
0
~

o a/b = 1.00

= 1.50

x--..0-~

,
.'

-0.000010

= 0.75

-I

-0.000010

~
I
.I
Ii
0.2 I

-0.000015-

00
:
Figure

5.

III
0.1,

0.6

-0.000020

I
to

08

0.0

COORDINATE,y

Distrib,ution
cross-ply,
I

of

moment

resultant

Figure

Mxy(6 layers

7.

0:2

o.~
Q.6
COORDINATE,y
of moment resultant

Distrlbutiop

0.8

1:0

Mry (6 layers,

cross-ply, simply supported).

clamped).

O.OB

0.015

-6

LAYERS

0002 LAYERS
0.07
0.0,0

>-

o a/b = 1.po

0.0&

...

= 1.50

;i

'i:
= 0.751

~
~
s
~
~
~
0
~

0.05
~

0.005

~
r;;

0.01.

."

O.OOO-i

"

0.03

{"

0.: -~ ---0
=.-- --X--.r-X-

0-

--- "~--

~- "
-

~
0
~

a/b = 1.00

= 1.50

0.02

= 0.75
-0.005

---a/h = 10
= 100

0. 01,-

o.oJ-

I
Figure

6.

Ii
0.0

I
0.1,

0.2

t
Distribution
angle-l?ly,

CqORDINA~E.
of moment
clamped,

I
0.6

I
0.81

I
1.0

-0.010-!
00

I
0.2

I
0.6

I
0.&

I
1.0

COORDINATE,y

resultant
Mxy (a/h = 100,
I
2 layers, 6 layers).

I
0.4

Figure 8.

Distribution

of moment resultant

MKy (6 layers,

angle-ply, siolply supported).

DEF SCI J, VOL 46, NO 1, JANUARY

4-6 for clamped plate. It is concluded from these figures

that the level of stress/moment resultant. is more for
angle-ply laminate in comparison with cros-ply case.
Also it is observed that the effect of bending-extefision:il
co4pling in two-layered laminate is to increase the
resultants. Similar plots for mome,nt distributions are
presented in Figs 7 and 8 for simply-supported laminated
plates. In all the cases studied in the present analysis,
the aspect and thickl)ess ratios playa significant role in
determining the displacement/stress levels.
I

,6

,8,

9,

2.

Khdeir, A.A. & Reddy, J.N. Thermal stresses

and deflections of cross-ply laminated plates using
refined plate theories. I. Ther. Stresses, 1991,
14(4),419-38.
Ootao, Y.; Tanigawa, Y. & Murakami,
H.
Transient thermal stress analysis and bending
behaviour of an angle-ply laminated slab. I. Ther.

4.

I. Composite Material,
5.

1'987,19,424-42.

Wu, C.H. & Tauc'hert, T.R. Thermoelastic

analysis of laminated plates 1 : Symmetric
specially orthotropic laminates. I. Ther. Stresses,
1980,3,247-49.

Chen, L. W. & Cli.en, L. y .Thermal deformations

and stress analysis or composite laminated plates
by,finitb element method. Coniput. Struct. ,1990,
35(1), 41-49. I ,
M.S. Thermal stress
analysis of skew. ~Iate by finite element method.
Comput. Struct. ,,1985,21, 1013-23.
I
Huang, N.N. & Tau~hert, ;r.R. Large deflection
of laminated cylindrical anq doubly-curved panels
under thermal loading. rCbmput. Struct. , 1991,
41(2),303-12.
,

Khdier, A.A.;
Rajab, M.D & Reddy, J.N.
Thermal effects on "the }esponse of cross-ply
laminated shallow shells. Comput. Struct. , 1992,
29(5),653-67.
Wang, H.S. & Chou, T-W. Transient thermal
stress analysis of a rectangular orthotropic slab.

Kari, .R.;
Thcingaratnam;
Palaninathan.
&
Ramachandran, J. Thermal stress analysis of
laminated plates and shells. Comput. Struct. ,
1980, 30(8~, 1403-1i. .

10. Ganes&n, N. & Dhotarad,

Stresses, 1990,13(2),17.7-92.
3.

,
I
I
Wu, C.U.
& Tauchrt,
T.R. Thermoelastic
analysis of laminated plates 2 J Antisymmetric
cross-ply and angle-ply : laminates. I. Ther.

Stresses, 1980,3,365-78.
,
,
7. Biswas, P. Large deflection of heated orthotropic
cylindrical shallow shell. Def. Sci. I. , 1990, 30,
.87-92.
,

REFERENCES
1.

1996

12

,
,

Naganarayana, B.P.; Prathap, G.; Dattaguru, B.

& Ramamurthy,
T .S. A: field-consistent
and
variationally
cdrrected
representation
of
transverse shear stra~ns in -the nine-no.ded plate
element. Comput. Methods Applied Mech. Engg. ,
1992, 97, 355-74.

13. Jones, R.M. Mfchanics of composi~e materials,

McGraw-hill

Bobk
Co. Inc, New
York,
,
I
,

1975.