Three-dimensional transient interlaminar thermal stresses in angle-ply composites

This paper studies the three-dimensional transient interlaminar thermal stresses in elastic, angle-ply laminated composites due to sudden changes in the thermal boundary conditions. The transient temperature field and transient interlaminar thermal stresses of the laminate are obtained by solving the heat conduction equation and by a zeroth-order perturbation analysis of the equilibrium equations, respectively. Numerical results for a four-layer angle-ply laminate have shown that the interlaminar normal stress near the free edge is significantly higher than that in the interior region and it increases rapidly with the fiber volume fraction.