Exact solutions for sorptive-thermoelastic composite laminates in cylindrical bendin

The application of composite materials in severe service environments has necessitated the development of an analytical model for composite laminates under combined mechanical, thermal and sorptive loads. The ability to accurately model the physical behavior of a composite structure requires an understanding of characteristic behavior of the constituent laminae. Knowledge of the displacement, stress, concentration and temperature fields through the laminate thickness is essential in developing both accurate and computationally efficient numerical models of composite laminate load behavior.;Research was conducted to develop analytic solutions for sorptive thermoelastic, bi-directional composite laminates in cylindrical bending under combined mechanical, thermal and sorptive loads. The solution examines the two dimensional case of plane strain and avoids the Kirchhoff limitation of classical lamination theory. The derivation allowed for an arbitrary number of orthotropic-sorptive-thermoelastic layers to be employed. Case studies were performed to illustrate the through thickness behavior of the displacement, stress, concentration and temperature fields within the composite laminate. The solution demonstrates that classical lamination theory yields a poor description of laminate response at low span-to-depth ratios. As the span-to-depth ration increases the classical lamination theory solution converges with the exact solution developed herein.;Unlike classical lamination theory, this solution allows for a temperature and concentration gradient to exist through the laminate thickness. The derivation also allows for the application of interfacial boundary conditions that represent internal heat and/or concentration sources or sinks.