Initial strain effects in multilayer composite laminates

A boundary integral formulation for the analysis of stress fields induced in composite laminates by initial strains, such as may be due to temperature changes and moisture absorption is presented. The study is formulated on the basis of the theory of generalized orthotropic thermo-elasticity and the governing integral equations are directly deduced through the generalized reciprocity theorem. A suitable expression of the problem fundamental solutions is given for use in computations. The resulting linear system of algebraic equations is obtained by the boundary element method and stress interlaminar distributions in the boundary-layer are calculated by using a boundary only discretization. The approach is general and it does not require a priori assumptions. Numerical results are presented to show the potential of the proposed approach. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.