Generalized plane strain thermoelastic deformation of laminated anisotropic thick plates

The generalized plane strain quasi-static thermoelastic deformations of laminated anisotropic thick plates are analyzed by using the Eshelby-Stroh formalism. The laminated plate consists of homogeneous laminae of arbitrary thicknesses. The three-dimensional equations of linear anisotropic thermoelasticity simplified to the case of generalized plane strain deformations are exactly satisfied at every point in the body. The analytical solution is in terms of an infinite series; the continuity conditions at the interfaces and boundary conditions at the bounding surfaces are used to determine the coefficients. The formulation admits different mechanical and thermal boundary conditions at the edges of each lamina, and is applicable to thick and thin laminated plates. Results are computed for thick laminated plates with edges either rigidly clamped, simply supported or traction-free and compared with the predictions of the classical laminated plate theory and the first-order shear deformation theory. The boundary layer effect near clamped and traction-free edges is investigated. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.