Thermal stress analysis for laminated plates using actual temperature field

A global–local higher order model considering transverse normal deformation is proposed to predict the thermal response of laminated plates subjected to actual temperature field. The in-plane temperature field is expressed as a harmonic series expansion whereas the nonlinear temperature profile in the thickness direction is determined by solving the heat conduction equation. Validity of the proposed model is verified by comparing results with existing publications. Moreover, influence of the temperature fields along the thickness direction on the thermal behaviors of laminates is also investigated. Numerical results show that present model can reasonably predict thermal response of general laminated plates as well as laminated plates with arbitrary layouts under actual temperature loads. However, higher-order zigzag theory neglecting transverse normal deformation is inadequate for predicting thermal response of laminated plates subjected to actual temperature fields. A merit of the present model is that transverse shear stresses can be evaluated directly from the constitutive equations without stress smoothing.