Flexural behaviour of a curved orthotropic beam on an elastic foundation

This paper is concerned with the mechanical behaviour of a curved orthotrop ic beam on an elastic foundation under flexural loading. The differential e quation in this case is derived from force-moment equilibrium consideratios and classical laminated orthotropic plate theory. General solutions for va rious loading conditions are derived using a stress function approach. Fina lly, the effects of various parameters such as the anisotropy ratio, founda tion modulus and radius of the beam on stresses are presented from a design perspective.