Efficiency and accuracy considerations in a unified plate theory with delamination

The accuracy and efficiency of a new type of plate theory within the context of the cylindrical bending problem is examined. The theoretical framework of the theory employs a generalized two-length scale displacement field obtained from a superposition of arbitrary orders/forms of global- and local-displacement effects. The current work particularly concentrates on the impact of different combinations of the global- and local-displacement effects on the theoryʹs ability to accurately and efficiently predict the local fields for cross-ply plates. The theory is shown to accurately predict both the displacement and stress fields as well as the displacement jumps due to delaminations. Consideration of the trends in the predictions obtained using different combinations of global- and local-fields indicates that accurate solutions are obtained in a computationally efficient manner by using relatively low orders of global- and local-fields. Furthermore, the results imply that the theory can be directly used to examine convergence of a solution simply by changing the orders of the global, local, or both global- and local-displacement effects.