A RAYLEIGH-RITZ SOLUTION FOR LOCAL STRESSES IN COMPOSITE LAMINATES

In this paper a Rayleigh-Ritz solution for local stresses in composite laminates has been developed by using the potential-energy function a nd an assumed displacement field. Unlike many existing models the assu med displacement field is capable of modeling explicitly the continuit y of transverse stresses at the interface between dissimilar materials . Once the displacement field has been obtained the stresses in indivi dual layers can be calculated analytically by using constitutive equat ions. This approach has excellent accuracy compared with the exact sol ution and much lower computational cost than the finite-element method . (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.