Analysis of thick orthotropic laminated composite plates based on higher order shear deformation theory

A two-dimensional finite element model is presented to perform the linear static analysis of laminated orthotropic composite plates based on a refined higher order shear deformation theory. The theory accounts for parabolic distributions of transverse shear stresses and requires no shear correction factors. A finite element program is developed using serendipity element with seven degrees of freedom per node. The present solutions are compared with those obtained using three-dimensional elasticity theory and those obtained by other researchers. The theory accurately predicts displacements and transverse shear stresses compared to previously developed theories for thick plates and are very close to three-dimensional elasticity solutions. The effects of transverse shear deformation, material anisotropy, aspect ratio, fiber orientation and lamination sequence on transverse shear stresses are investigated. The error in values of transverse shear stresses decreases as the number of lamina increases, for a plate of same thickness. An increase in degree of anisotropy results in lower values of deflection in the plate. For cross-ply plate an increase in anisotropy results in an increase in effective stress whereas for angle-ply plate the effect is almost negligible. Through thickness variation of transverse shear stresses are independent of anisotropy. The maximum effective stress increases exponentially at lower values of anisotropy and reaches to an asymptotic value at higher values. The stacking sequence has a significant effect on the transverse deflections and shear stress. Rectangular plates experience less effective, in-plane and transverse shear stresses compared to square plates.