DISPERSIVE WAVES IN COMPOSITES, A COMPARISON BETWEEN VARIOUS LAMINATED PLATE THEORIES

The exact Rayleigh-Lamb wave dispersion spectrum of laminated plates is obtained by applying a recursive algorithm developed for the analysis of stress waves in anisotropic layered media. Results from this benchmark problem are used in comparisons between the classical laminated plate, first-order shear deformation, and two higher-order shear deformation theories. Attention is paid to the effects of the number of layers, direction of propagation, and lay-up (symmetric or asymmetric), on the range of frequencies where these theories apply.