The effect of shear deformation on material selection for bending components

This paper examines the significance of shear deformation on material selection for bending components. First, analytical developments of material selection measures that include shear stiffness are described. The results of the study show the importance of shear stiffness in formulating material selection measures, in particular for composite laminates. It is shown that when shear stiffness is considered in the material selection measures, the optimum material is not always independent from geometry configuration of the bending component. The predictions of these analytical measures for performance comparison of materials are also verified using the finite element analysis. The results of finite element analyses confirm the predictions of the analytical formulation.