An improved zig-zag model for the bending of laminated composite plates

Abstract

A simple layerwise higher-order zig-zag model is proposed for the bending of laminated composite plates. The model accounts for a cubic variation of the in-plane displacements in each layer, and a parabolic variation of the transverse shear stresses across the laminate with zero values at the free surfaces. By imposing the continuity of the in-plane displacements and the transverse shear stresses at the interfaces, the number of variables is shown to be the same as those given by Mindlin's theory. Numerical results for the cylindrical bending of symmetric laminates are in excellent agreement with those from exact elasticity solutions, and are generally more accurate than those given by the layerwise linear zig-zag model of Di Sciuva and the higher-order theory of Reddy. © 1990.