A review of refined shear deformation theories of isotropic and anisotropic laminated plates

A review of displacement and stress based refined theories for isotropic and anisotropic laminated plates is presented. Various equivalent single layer and layerwise theories for laminated plates are discussed together with their merits and demerits. Exact elasticity solutions for the plate problems are cited, wherever available. Various critical issues related to plate theories are presented, based on the literature reviewed.