BENDING ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED PLATES AND SHELLS BY DIFFERENT METHODS

A consistent set of equations for laminated composite shallow shells i s used to obtain various solutions for isotropic and laminated plates and shallow shells. Exact solutions which satisfy the equations of equ ilibrium and boundary conditions are obtained for shear diaphragm boun daries and cross-ply laminates. The Ritz method is used to obtain the deflections and stresses for generally laminated plates and shallow sh ells with cantilevered and doubly-cantilevered boundaries. Triangular elements of three and six nodes as well as quadrilateral elements of f our and eight nodes are developed. The finite element results are comp ared with both exact solutions and those obtained by the Ritz method. Isotropic and laminated materials are considered for both plates and c ylindrical shell panels.