Non-Dimensional Stress Analysis of Orthotropic Laminates

摘要

Stress concentration is an interesting and essential field of study, as it is the prime cause of failure of structural parts under static load. In the current paper, the effect of the non-dimensional material constants E_Y/E_X, G_(XY)/E_X, μ_(xy) and the ply orientation angle (θ) on the stress concentration in orthotropic rectangular plate is studied under the action of in-plane loads. The numerical experiments are conducted in the ANSYS APDL environment. Three-dimensional finite element models are built in ANSYS using 3D shell elements with 8 degrees of freedom. The mesh convergence is obtained and the models for various in-plane loadings are validated against classical results of an isotropic plate. Subsequently the models are used for predicting the stress behavior of orthotropic plates. The work successfully highlights that for orthotropic materials (unlike isotropic materials) the SCF (Stress Concentration Factor) depends on the material properties.