A GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR-THEORY FOR LAMINATED ANISOTROPIC THIN-WALLED-BEAMS

A non-linear theory of composite thin-walled beams accounting for fini te displacements and arbitrarily large twist angles is presented. The theory is valid for beams of arbitrary open and closed cross-sections and accounts for various non-classical effects like anistropy, transve rse shear deformation and constrained warping. The present non-linear formulation enables one to study the static and dynamic stability of b eams composed of composite materials systematically with due considera tion of all non-classical influences. It is shown that certain other t echnologically important studies can also be carried out using this th eory.