Abstract:
Laminated composite structures are usually exposed in hygrothermal environment as they are manufactured and applied in engineering practices. Thus, the hygrothermal behaviors of composites have to be considered in the design of composite structures. However, the following problems exist in theto-date theoretical models for hygrothermal analysis of laminated composites. Firstly, the continuity conditions of interlaminar stresses are usually neglected, as a result, it is difficult to obtain accurately the interlaminate stresses of laminated composites under hygrothermal environment. Moreover, in recent studies on hygrothermal problems, the thermal expansion coefficients are assumed to be independent of the angle of each layer, which may mislead the later researches. A higher-order global-local theory satisfying the continuity conditions of interlaminar stresses has been developed. Based on the proposed model, a triangular element is constructed to analyze the mechanical behaviors of laminated composites under hygro-thermo-mechanical loading. Moreover, effects of hygrothermal expansion coefficients on hygrothermal behaviors are also investigated.