An efficient FE model and LSE method for accurate calculation of transverse stresses in laminated sandwich plates

Abstract

Accurate evaluation of transverse stresses in laminated composites and sandwich plates using 2D FE models involves cumbersome post processing techniques. In this paper a simple and efficient method has been proposed for accurate evaluation of through-the-thickness distribution of transverse stresses in composites and sandwich laminates by using a displacement based C0 FE model derived from refined higher order shear deformation theory (RHSDT) and a Least Square Error (LSE) method. The C0 FE model satisfies the inter-laminar shear stress continuity conditions at the layer interfaces and zero transverse shear stress conditions at the top and bottom of the plate. In this model the first derivatives of transverse displacement have been treated as independent variables to circumvent the problem of C1 continuity associated with the above plate theory (RHSDT). The LSE method is applied to the 3D equilibrium equations of the plate problem at the post-processing stage, after in-plane stresses are calculated by using the above FE model based on RHSDT. Thus the proposed method is quite simple and elegant compared to the usual method of integrating the 3D equilibrium equations at the post-processing stage for the calculation of transverse stresses in a composite laminate. Accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated in the numerical examples through comparison of the present results with those obtained from different models based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and 3D elasticity solutions. © 2013 WIT Press.