Laminated plates boundary conditions

Boundary conditions used to be thought of as a choice between simply supported, clamped, or free edges if all classes of elastically restrained edges are neglected. The real situation for laminated plates is more complex than for isotropic plates because now there are actually four types of boundary conditions that can be called simply supported edges. These more complicated boundary conditions arise because now we must consider u, v, and w instead of just w alone. Similarly, there are four kinds of clamped edges. These boundary conditions can be concisely described as a displacement or derivative of a displacement or, alternatively, a force or moment is equal to some prescribed value (often zero) denoted by an overbar at the edge ... 

Note the presence of the bend-twist coupling stiffnesses in the boundary conditions as well as in the differential et uation. As with the specially orthotropic laminated plate, the simply supported edge boundary condition cannot be further distinguished by the character of the in-plane boundary conditions on u and v because the latter do not appear in any plate problem for a symmetric laminate. 

The solution to the governing differential equation, Equation (5.32), is not as simple as for specially orthotropic laminated plates because of the presence of D. g and D2g. The Fourier expansion of the deflection w. Equation (5.29), is an example of separation of variables. However, because of the terms involving D.,g and D2g, the expansion does not satisfy the governing differential equation because the variables are not separable. Moreover, the deflection expansion also does not satisfy the boundary conditions. Equation (5.33), again because of the terms involving D. g and D2g. 

Whitney solved the problem for simply supported edge boundary condition S3 [5-13 and 5-14] (recall that S2 was used for antisymmetric cross-ply laminated plates in Section 5.3.3) ... 

The buckling load will be determined for plates with various laminations specially orthotropic, symmetric angle-ply, antisymmetric cross-ply, and antisymmetric angle-ply. The results for the different lamination types will be compared to find the influence of bend-twist coupling and bending-extension coupling. As with the deflection problems in Section 5.3, different simply supported edge boundary conditions will be used in the several problems addressed for convenience of illustration. 

The equilibrium equations for a beam are derived to illustrate the derivation process and to serve as a review in preparation for addressing plates. Then, the plate equilibrium equations are derived for use in Chapter 5. Next, the plate buckling equations are discussed. Finally, the plate vibration equations are addressed. In each case, the pertinent boundary conditions are displayed. Nowhere in this appendix is reference needed to laminated beams or plates. All that is derived herein is applicable to any kind of beam or plate because only fundamental equilibrium, buckling, or vibration concepts are used. 

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