Analysis of a multilayered plate containing a cuboidal inclusion with eigenstrains

The elastic fields in a cuboidal inclusion with eigenstrains in an infinite plate composed of thin layers of isotropic linear elastic materials are in vestigated. Closed form solutions for the elastic fields are obtained by us ing a method based on the influence functions. An infinite multilayered pla te containing a cuboidal inhomogeneity with eigenstrains is considered. App roximate solutions of the elastic fields due to the inhomogeneity with slig htly different stiffnesses from the infinite laminate are obtained by using the average equivalent eigenstrain method. Some numerical computations are carried out to examine the accuracy of the approximate solution. Our atten tion is also given to an arbitrarily shaped inclusion with a dilatational e igenstrain. It is shown that traces of the resultant stress and moment tens ors are uniform inside the inclusion and independent of the inclusion shape . Laminate versions of the Milgrom-Shtrikman traces that are independent of the inclusion shape are derived. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.