Finite element analysis of thermal stresses for laminated composites in terms of a new C0-type Reddy's theory

This article proposed an accurate C⁰-type Reddy's theory including effects of the transverse normal thermal strain to study the thermal behaviors of laminated composite plates. Although transverse normal thermal strain was taken into account, displacement variables are not increased as thermal loads can be included in the generalized force vector. Based on the proposed model, an eight-node quadrilateral isoparametric element is presented, in which the interelement C⁰ continuity conditions are satisfied. Numerical results show that the proposed model can produce accurate responses of laminated composite plates under temperature loads.