A GENERAL FORMULATION OF HIGHER-ORDER THEORIES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED PLATES

The structural analysis of laminated plates is approached by means of a displacement-based method. The displacement unknowns are expanded in power series through the thickness of the laminate. A general higher-order theory is developed both for single-layer and for multiple-layer models. As particular cases, zig-zag models or simple higher-order models already developed in the literature are obtained. The possibility of getting simplified forms of displacements based on a priori assumptions about stresses is discussed. In the case of the single-layer approach the equilibrium equations of the laminated plate valid for whichever order are then derived using a variational method. Closed-form solutions are then obtained for simple laminates.