Finite volume analysis of stress and deformation in hygro-thermo-elastic orthotropic body Original Research Article

A numerical method originally developed for the stress analysis in isotropic bodies of arbitrary shape subjected to thermo-mechanical loads is extended to handle general anisotropic bodies subjected to hygro-thermo-mechanical loads. Starting from an integral form of the equations governing heat, mass and momentum balance, and using the constitutive equations which account for mechanical as well as thermal and hygral stresses, an unconditionally stable, second-order in both time and space finite volume discretisation is performed, resulting in a set of algebraic equations, which are then solved by an efficient segregated iterative procedure. In order to demonstrate the methods capabilities, a transient analysis of stresses and deformation in an orthotropic body subjected to hygro-thermal loads is performed and shown that results compare favourably with experimental data.