Open Access

ARTICLE

A four-node hybrid assumed-strain finite element for laminated composite plates

by A. Cazzani¹, E. Garusi², A. Tralli³, S.N. Atluri⁴

1 DIMS, University of Trento, Trento, ITALY; corresponding author.
2 Italferr, Milano, ITALY.
3 DI, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, ITALY.
4 UCI, Irvine, CA, USA.

Computers, Materials & Continua 2005, 2(1), 23-38. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2005.002.023

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced plates and shells are finding an increasing interest in engineering applications. Consequently, efficient and robust computational tools are required for the analysis of such structural models. As a matter of fact, a large amount of laminate finite elements have been developed and incorporated in most commercial codes for structural analysis. \newline In this paper a new laminate hybrid assumed-strain plate element is derived within the framework of the First-order Shear Deformation Theory (i.e. assuming that particles of the plate originally lying along a straight line which is normal to the undeformed middle surface remain aligned along a straight line during the deformation process) and assuming perfect bonding between laminae. The \emph {in-plane} components of the (infinitesimal) strain tensor are interpolated and by making use of the constitutive law, the corresponding \emph {in-plane} stress distribution is deduced for each layer. \emph {Out-of-plane} shear stresses are then computed by integrating the equilibrium equations in each lamina, account taken of their continuity requirements. \emph {Out-of-plane} shear strains are finally obtained via the inverse constitutive law. \newline The resulting global strain field depends on a fixed number of parameters, regardless of the total number of layers; 12 degrees of freedom are for instance assumed for the developed rectangular element. \newline The proposed model does not suffer locking phenomena even in the thin plate limit and provides an accurate description of inter-laminar stresses. Results are compared with both analytical and other finite element solutions.

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