Thermal analysis of FRP chimneys using consistent laminated shell element

Due to their high corrosion and chemical resistance, fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) materials are increasingly being used in the construction of industrial chimneys. The design of a chimney is governed by wind loads as well as thermal loads resulting from the differences among the ambient, the operating and the curing temperatures. This study involves an investigation for the thermal stresses induced in angle-ply laminated FRP chimneys, using an in-house developed laminated shell element model. The finite element model is verified by performing thermal analysis of a number of plate and shell problems and comparing the results to those available in the literature. An extensive parametric study is then conducted using the shell element model to identify the parameters which significantly affect thermal stresses induced in FRP chimneys.The study indicates that the thermal stresses are only affected by the inclination of the lamina plies, the percentage of fibers content and the through thickness temperature distribution. Analyses also show that localized cracks in the direction perpendicular to the fibers are expected to occur due to the thermal loads. Finally, thermal stress values that can be used in the design of FRP chimneys, when cracking is considered, are presented as function of the through thickness temperature distributions.