This paper is devoted to the analysis of elastic properties of anisotropic
laminas using the so-called polar representation method: this is an effecti
ve mathematical toot to analyse two-dimensional elastic problems. By this m
ethod, the authors have been able to find a particular class of solutions t
o some special inverse problems concerning laminates made by anisotropic la
yers. The properties of these solutions are described and discussed, along
with some general results. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.