Symmetric Angle-Ply Laminated Plates

Symmetric angle-ply laminates were described in Section 4.3.2 and found to be characterized by a full matrix of extensional stiffnesses as well as bending stiffnesses (but of course no bending-extension coupling stiffnesses because of middle-surface symmetry). The new facet of this type of laminate as opposed to specially orthotropic laminates is the appearance of the bend-twist coupling stiffnesses D. g and D2g (the shear-extension coupling stiffnesses A. g and A2g do not affect the transverse deflection w when the laminate is symmetric). The governing differential equation of equilibrium is 

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. 

Ashton solved this problem approximately by recognizing that the differential equation, Equation (5.32), is but one result of the equilibrium requirement of making the total potential energy of the mechanical system stationary relative to the independent variable w [5-9]. An alternative method is to express the total potential energy in terms of the deflections and their derivatives. Specifically, Ashton approximated the deflection by the Fourier expansion in Equation (5.29) and substituted it in the expression for the total potential energy, V  

Ashton used 49 terms (up through m = 7 and n = 7) in the deflection approximation, Equation (5.29), to obtain for a uniformly loaded square plate with stiffnesses = (Di2 + 2De6)/Dii = 1.5, and Die/Dii= 

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Thus, the error from ignoring the bend-twist coupiing terms is about 24%, certainly not a negligible error. Hence, the specially orthotropic laminated plate is an unacceptable approximation to a symmetric angle-ply laminated plate. Recognize, however, that Ashton s Rayleigh-Ritz results are also approximate because only a finite number of terms were used in the deflection approximation. Thus, a comparison of his results with an exact solution would lend more confidence to the rejection of the specially orthotropic laminated plate approximation. 

Often, because specially orthotropic laminates are virtually as easy to analyze as isotropic plates, other laminates are regarded as, or approximated with, specially orthotropic laminates. This approximation will be studied by comparison of results for each type of laminate with and without the various stiffnesses that distinguish it from a specially orthotropic laminate. Specifically, the importance of the bend-twist coupling terms D,g and D26 will be examined for symmetric angle-ply laminates. Then, bending-extension coupling will be analj ed for antisym-... 

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. 

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