GEOMETRICALLY NONLINEAR FINITE STRIP ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES

A finite strip method for the geometrically nonlinear analysis of lami nated composite plates is developed in the present study. This method incorporates additional degrees of freedom for each nodal line and use s the higher-order shear deformation theory. Therefore, the current me thod is more universal in dealing with laminates with different plate thickness, fiber orientation and boundary conditions. The modified New ton-Raphson method is used for the nonlinear solution process, and a r elaxation technique is employed to prevent possible divergence of iter ation. The present method yields results in good agreement with the ex isting solutions. The effects of length-to-thickness ratio, number of plies, fiber orientation and stacking sequence on the large deformatio n behaviour of composite laminates are also investigated with numerica l examples. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved.