Hygrothermal Analysis of Laminated Composite Plates by Using Efficient Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory

Hygrothermal analysis of laminated composite plates has been done by using an efficient higher order shear deformation theory. The stress field derived from hygrothermal fields must be consistent with total strain field in this type of analysis. In the present formulation, the plate model has been implemented with a computationally efficient C0 finite element developed by using consistent strain field. Special steps are introduced to circumvent the requirement of C1coninuity in the original plate formulation and C0 continuity of the present element has been compensated in stiffness matrix calculations. The accuracy of the proposed C0 element is established by comparing the results with those obtained by three dimensional elasticity solutions and other finite element analysis.