Geometrically nonlinear axisymmetric analysis of thick laminated annular plate using FSDT

This paper presents geometrically nonlinear, axisymmetric, static and transient, moderately large deflection response of a laminated, composite, moderately thick annular plate subjected to uniformly distributed ring loads. The layers are considered to be polar orthotropic. Rotational inertia is included but the inplane inertia is neglected. First-order shear deformation theory is used in terms of the deflection w, rotation psi of the midplane and the stress function phi. The governing equations are solved by the orthogonal point collocation method and Newmark-beta scheme. The effect of the radius-to-thickness ratio of the plate on the deflection and stress response is studied for symmetrically and unsymmetrically laminated plates. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.