Thermoelastic buckling of laminated composite conical shells

Within the framework of three-dimensional (3D) elasticity, an asymptotic th eory is presented for the thermoelastic buckling analysis of laminated comp osite conical shells subjected to a uniform temperature change. A dimension less parameter of thermal load related to the temperature change is defined . The method of perturbation is applied in the present formulation where th e critical thermal loads and the primary field variables are expanded as a series of even powers of a small perturbation parameter. Through a straight forward derivation, the asymptotic formulation leads to recursive sets of g overning equations for various orders. The classical shell theory is derive d as a first-order approximation to the 3D theory. The method of differenti al quadrature is used to solve for the asymptotic solutions at each order l evel. The solvability conditions and normalization conditions for higher-or der problems are derived. By considering these conditions, we can obtain th e higher-order modifications. The critical thermal loads of simply supporte d, cross-ply conical shells are studied to demonstrate the performance of t he present asymptotic theory.