Thermoelasticity of Anisotropic Generally Laminated Slabs Subject to Spatially Periodic Thermal Loads

Abstract

Based on 3-D thermoelasticity theory, the effects of mechanical and thermal material anisotropy on the local stationary fields of generally laminated plates are investigated. In particular, to model the stated problem, each individual lamina of the slab is considered to be composed of mechanically and thermally possibly fully anisotropic materials whose fields satisfy 3-D elasticity and conduction theory. Using complex series expansions, together with the properties of complex adjoint differential forms, a 3-D solution of the given model is obtained. Its generality is such that plates consisting of any number of distinct fully anisotropic lamina subject to arbitrary spatially periodic external and internal mechanical and thermal loads can be handled. In terms of the model and its solution, the results of several numerical experiments which emphasize the effects of material anisotropy on the governing fields of symmetric, alternating, and shingle-type laminates are reported.