FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS FOR STIFFENED LAMINATED PLATES USING HIGHER-ORDER SHEAR DEFORMATION-THEORY

Higher-order shear deformation theory, which assumes a realistic cross-sectional deformation pattern and eliminates the use of shear correction coefficients, is presented to evaluate the flexural responses of stiffened laminated plates. A standard four-noded rectangular element with seven degrees of freedom at each node is developed for a laminated plate having a constant thickness for any individual layer. The stiffness of the stiffener is reflected at all four nodes of the plate element in which it is placed. The present element formulation is checked for isotropic stiffened plates, which yields good agreement with analytical and numerical results. The formulation is then extended to the analysis, of stiffened plates, made of fibre-reinforced composites. For unstiffened cases the results compare well with those of Ghosh and Dey [Comput. Struct. 44(3),585-596 (1992)].