BENDING ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED PLATES USING A REFINED SHEAR DEFORMATION-THEORY

In this paper the refinement of a previously published discrete-layer shear deformation laminated plate theory by the assumption that the transverse shear strains across any two layers are linearly dependent on each other is briefly described. The theory contains the same dependent variables as first-order shear deformation theory, but the set of governing differential equations is of the twelfth order. No shear correction factors are required. Solutions for simply-supported symmetric and antisymmetric cross-ply plates are discussed. The numerical results are compared with three-dimensional elasticity solutions and first-order shear deformation theory solutions. The present theory gives a better estimate of the deflections and stresses even for fairly thick laminates. For laminates of the same thickness, it is shown that the solution accuracy improves as the number of layers increases.