Electrical equivalent method for thermal stress analysis

A method that can help to improve understanding of thermal-stress problems and is useful for the first-order analysis of thermal stresses in the layered structures of laminates is introduced. The technique models the thermal expansion and the elasticity of each layer as components in a three-terminal equivalent electrical circuit. A model of the laminate is developed by connecting the equivalent circuits of the layers in a network. Currents and voltages are obtained by network analysis. The thermal stresses in the laminate are derived from the branch currents; the local thermal expansion coefficients for the surfaces or for internal bonding interfaces are given by the node voltages