A Refined Theory of Laminated Doubly Curved Shells

Abstract

The doubly curved laminated shell is considered in this paper. The shell may be composed of an arbitrary number of bounded layers, each of which may possess different thicknesses, orientations and anisotropic elastic properties.

In the theory, the displacement component between layers are considered as fundamental unknown functions. The transverse shear deformation as well as expansional strain in each lamina is included. Equations of equilibrium for laminae are first derived. Continuity of displacement and stress have been prescribed at the interfaces between laminae before the final governing equations are derived. The theory is applied to the problem of a four-layered laminated cylindrical shell and the validity of it is assessed by comparing with solutions obtained from the exact theory of elasticity.