THERMOSTRUCTURAL FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF LAMINATED DOUBLY-CURVED COMPOSITE SHELLS

The present investigation concerns with the development of a finite el ement method for the thermostructural analysis of laminated doubly cur ved composite shells. The thermal analysis includes all conventional m odes of heat transfer including external heat fluxes and convection en vironments. The shell strain-deformation relations are based on Donnel l's shallow shell theory. The thermo-mechanical properties of composit es are assumed to be temperature dependent. Both steady and transient states are analysed. The present results are found to compare well wit h those existing in the open literature. Numerical results are also ob tained for displacements and stresses to study the effects of thermal boundary conditions, radius to span ratios, stacking sequences, struct ural boundary conditions and temperature dependent material properties .