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Thermal Response of Symmetric Cross-Ply Laminated

Plates Subjected to Linear and Non-Linear Thermo-
Mechanical Loads
a a
Yuwaraj Marotrao Ghugal & Sanjay Kantrao Kulkarni
a
Department of Applied Mechanics , Government Engineering College , Aurangabad ,
Maharashtra State , India
Published online: 04 Apr 2013.

To cite this article: Yuwaraj Marotrao Ghugal & Sanjay Kantrao Kulkarni (2013) Thermal Response of Symmetric Cross-Ply
Laminated Plates Subjected to Linear and Non-Linear Thermo-Mechanical Loads, Journal of Thermal Stresses, 36:5, 466-479,
DOI: 10.1080/01495739.2013.770664

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 Journal of Thermal Stresses, 36: 466–479, 2013
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0149-5739 print/1521-074X online
DOI: 10.1080/01495739.2013.770664

THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY

LAMINATED PLATES SUBJECTED TO LINEAR AND
NON-LINEAR THERMO-MECHANICAL LOADS

Yuwaraj Marotrao Ghugal and Sanjay Kantrao Kulkarni

Department of Applied Mechanics, Government Engineering College,
Aurangabad, Maharashtra State, India
Downloaded by [New York University] at 01:29 13 February 2015

The flexural response of symmetric cross-ply laminated plates subjected to uniformly

distributed linear and non-linear thermo-mechanical loads is presented using trigonometric
shear deformation theory. The in-plane displacement field uses sinusoidal function in terms
of thickness coordinate to include the shear deformation effect. The theory satisfies the shear
stress-free boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate. The present
theory obviates the need of shear correction factor. Governing equations and boundary
conditions of the theory are obtained using the principle of virtual work. Thermal stresses
and displacements for three-layer symmetric square cross-ply laminated plates subjected
to uniform linear and nonlinear and thermo-mechanical loads are obtained. The results
of present theory are compared with those of classical plate theory, first-order shear
deformation theory and higher-order shear deformation theory.

Keywords: Closed-form solution; Cross-ply laminated plate; Non-linear thermal load; Thermal
stresses; Trigonometric shear deformation theory

INTRODUCTION
The superior mechanical properties of advanced composite materials such as
high specific strength, high specific stiffness, corrosion resistance, light damping,
temperature resistance and low thermal coefficient of expansion have resulted in
their use in structures subjected to severe thermal environment. The high velocities
of aircraft and spacecraft give rise to aerodynamic heating which produces intense
thermal stresses that reduce the strength of aircraft structures. The composite
materials provide excellent thermo-mechanical properties at elevated temperatures.
Coefficients of thermal expansion in the direction of fibers are usually much smaller
than those in the transverse direction. This results in high stresses at the interfaces.
To address the correct thermo-mechanical behavior of laminated plates including
shear deformation effects, the use of refined theories becomes inevitable.
Thermal stresses in laminated plates subjected to linear thermal load with
classical plate theory (CPT) based on Kirchhoff’s assumption amount to neglect
the transverse shear effect, i.e., deformation is due entirely to bending and in-plane

Received 8 June 2012; accepted 15 October 2012.

Address correspondence to Yuwaraj Marotrao Ghugal, Department of Applied Mechanics,
Government Engineering College, Aurangabad, Maharashtra State 431005, India. E-mail: ghugal@
rediffmail.com

466
 THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY LAMINATED PLATES 467

stretching, as given by Boley and Weiner [1], Jones [2] and Reddy [3]. However,
this kind of approach is inaccurate for the laminated plate. The inaccuracy is due
to neglecting the transverse shear stresses in the laminates. Thermal stresses in
laminated plates using first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) subjected to
single sinusoidal linear thermal load are presented by Reddy [3].
The FSDT extends the kinematics of CPT by including a gross transverse
shear deformation in its kinematic assumptions, i.e., the transverse shear strain is
assumed to be constant with respect to the thickness coordinate. The first-order
shear deformation theory needs a shear correction factor. Stress-free boundary
conditions are not satisfied in first-order shear deformation theory. A shear
correction factor of 5/6 is adopted in computed results using the first-order theory.
Moreover, this theory comprises five unknown variables. Some of the thermal
stresses in laminated plates using third order shear deformation theory subjected to
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single sinusoidal linear thermal load are presented by Reddy [3].

Third-order shear deformation theory accommodates quadratic variation of
shear strains (and hence stresses) and vanishing transverse shear stresses on the top
and bottom of a general laminate composed of monoclinic layers. Thus there is no
need to use shear correction factor in a third order theory. The third-order theory
provides a slight increase in accuracy relative to FSDT solution, at the expense of a
significant increase in computational effort. Thermal response of cross-ply laminated
plates subjected to single sinusoidal linear thermal load across the thickness of plate
is presented by various researchers [4–14] by using refined theories. However, not a
single author has given a complete thermal response of laminated plates. Analytical
solution for bending of cross-ply laminated plates under linear single sinusoidal
thermal and mechanical load is presented by Zenkour [15] using of unified shear
deformation plate theory.
The influence of material anisotropy, aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio,
thermal expansion coefficients ratio and stacking sequence on the thermally induced
response has been studied. Semi-analytical model for composite plates subjected
to single sinusoidal linear thermal load was developed by Kant, Pendhari, and
Desai [16].
A simple semi-analytical model with mixed fundamental variables starting
from the exact three-dimensional governing partial differential equations of
laminated composite and sandwich plates for thermo-mechanical stress analysis
was presented for simply supported plates. Three-dimensional thermal analysis of
composite laminated plates under linear thermal load is discussed by Reddy and
Savoia [17].
The results of stress analysis of multilayered plates subjected to thermal and
mechanical loads are presented in the context of three-dimensional quasi-static
theory of thermoelasticity. Three-dimensional exact solution of thermal stresses in
rectangular composite laminate under linear sinusoidal thermo-mechanical loading
is presented by Tungikar and Rao [18]. Tauchert [19], Noor and Burton [20],
Murakami [21], Argyris and Tanek [22] and Carrera [23] reviewed plate theories for
thermo-mechanical response. A comprehensive review of refined shear deformation
theories for isotropic and laminated plates is presented by Ghugal and Shimpi
[24]. The deformations of a simply supported, functionally graded, rectangular plate
subjected to thermo-mechanical loadings are analysed by Brischetto et al. [25].
 468 Y. M. GHUGAL AND S. K. KULKARNI

The static analysis of multilayered piezoelectric plates subjected to mechanical

pressures and to field loads such as electric potential and temperature is presented
by Brischetto and Carrera [26]. The principle of virtual displacements was extended
to thermo-electro-mechanical cases by including the virtual internal electric and
thermal works and by writing the opportune constitutive relations. A simplified and
accurate analytical cum numerical model is presented by Desai and Kant [27] to
investigate the behavior of functionally graded cylinders of finite length subjected to
thermo-mechanical load.
A functionally graded cylinder under thermal and mechanical load is
considered as a two-dimensional plane strain problem of thermoelasticity and effect
of non-homogeneity parameters on the stresses and displacements of functionally
graded cylinder are studied. Advanced theory and applications of thermoelasticity
are presented by Hetnarski and Eslami [28] to evaluate thermal stresses of elastic
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continua.
The literature review on the subject indicates that most of the work in
this area is concentrated on the linear thermal analysis of laminated composites.
However, not much attention has been paid to the non-linear thermal analysis of
laminated plates in combination with the transverse mechanical loads. The objective
of this article is to present an equivalent single layer shear deformation theory to
evaluate the thermo-elastic flexural response of cross-ply laminated plates subjected
to uniformly distributed linear and non-linear thermal loads across the thickness of
plate and uniform transverse mechanical load.

THEORETICAL FORMULATION
Consider a rectangular cross-ply laminated plate of length a, width b, and
total thickness h composed of orthotropic layers. The material of each layer is
assumed to have one plane of material property symmetry parallel to x-y plane. The
coordinate system is such that the mid-plane of the plate coincides with x-y plane,
and z axis is normal to the middle plane. The upper surface of the plate
z = −h/2
is subjected to uniform transverse mechanical load q
x y and thermal load
T
x y z. The region of the plate in (0-x, y, z) right-handed Cartesian coordinate
system is
h h
0 ≤ x ≤ a 0 ≤ y ≤ b − ≤z≤ (1)
2 2
The geometry of the laminated plate is as shown in Figure 1.

The Displacement Field

The displacement field at a point located at (x, y, z) in the plate is of the
form [24]:

w
x y h z
u
x y z = u0
x y − z + sin 
x y
x  h
w
x y h z
v
x y z = v0
x y − z + sin 
x y
y  h
w
x y z = w
x y (2)
 THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY LAMINATED PLATES 469
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Figure 1 Plate geometry and coordinate system.

Here u, v and w are the axial displacements along x, y and z directions respectively,
and are functions of the spatial coordinates; u0 , v0 , w0 are the displacements of a
point on the mid-plane, and  and  are the rotations about the y and x axes in
xz and yz planes due to bending. The generalized displacements u0 , v0 , w, ,  are
functions of the
x y coordinates. The present theory is simplified by enforcing
traction-free boundary conditions at the top and bottom surfaces of the plate.
The effect of shear deformation is included. This theory does not need a shear
correction factor because a correct representation of the transverse shearing strain
is given.
The normal and shear strains are obtained within the framework of linear
theory of elasticity. The infinitesimal strains associated with the displacement field
(2) are as follows:

u v u v u w v w
x =  y = 
xy = + 
zx = + 
yz = + (3)
x y y x z x z y

The stress-strain relationship in the plate coordinate system for the kth layer
in a laminated plate can be expressed as
     
 x  Q 12
11 Q 0  x − x T      
yz Q44 0
yz
y =Q12 Q
22 0  y − y T  =
  66    xz 0 Q 55
k
xz
k
xy
k 0 0 Q
k

xy
k

k

(4)


k
where lamina reduced stiffnesses Qij are as follows:

k
k
k
k


k E1 
k E2 
k 12 E1
Q11 =
k
k
 Q22 =
k
k
 Q12 =
k
k

1 − 12 21 1 − 12 21 1 − 12 21

k
Q

k
66 = G12 

k
Q

k
44 = G23 

k
Q

k
55 = G13 (5)
 470 Y. M. GHUGAL AND S. K. KULKARNI

where Ei are Young’s moduli; ij are Poisson’s ratios and Gij are shear moduli,
x and y are the coefficients of linear thermal expansion in x- and y-directions,
respectively, and thermal load across the thickness is assumed to be

z 
z
T
x y z = T1
x y + T2
x y + T
x y (6)
h h 3

where T1 , T2 and T3 are thermal loads and 
z = h sin z h

.
The non-linear term of thermal load T3 is associated with the cubic term of
thickness coordinate or trigonometric function in terms of thickness coordinate.
This trigonometric function contains an infinite number of odd powers of thickness
coordinates in its series representation; this result is the best thermal response. The
assumed temperature field is of high practical importance in thermal analysis of
structures (aircraft, spacecraft, missile and nuclear containment structures).
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The stress and moment resultants can be obtained by integrating Eq. (4) over
the plate thickness and are given as follows:
 h/2

Nx  Ny  Nxy  =
x  y  xy dz
−h/2
 h/2

Mx  My  Mxy  =
x  y  xy z dz
−h/2
 h/2
 
h z

Mxs  Mys  Mxy
s
 =
x  y  xy  sin dz (7)
−h/2  h
 h/2 z
s

vxz s
 vyz =
zx  yz  cos dz
−h/2 h

Governing Equations
Using the expressions for stresses, strains, and principle of virtual work,
variationally consistent governing differential equations and boundary conditions
for the plate under consideration are obtained. The principle of virtual work when
applied to the plate leads to:
 h/2  b  a  
x  x + y  y + yz 
yz + zx 
zx + xy 
xy dx dy dz
−h/2 0 0
 b  a
− qw dx dy = 0 (8)
0 0

where the symbol  denotes variational operator, and q is transverse mechanical

load. Employing Green’s theorem in the above equation successively and collecting
the coefficients of u0 , v0 , w, , , we can obtain the governing equations in
terms of stress resultants
Nx Nxy
u0  + =0 (9)
x y
Nxy Ny
v0  + =0 (10)
x y
 THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY LAMINATED PLATES 471

2 Mx 2 Mxy  2 My
w  + 2 + +q =0 (11)
x2 xy y2
s
Mxs Mxy
  + − Vxzs = 0 (12)
x y
Mys s
Mxy
  + − Vyzs = 0 (13)
y x

APPLICATIONS OF THE THEORY

To assess the performance of present theory under uniformly distributed linear
and nonlinear thermo-mechanical load, simply supported three-layer symmetric
square laminated plates subjected to uniformly distributed linear and non-linear
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thermal loads through the thickness of plate and uniform transverse mechanical
loads are considered with following material properties:

E1 = 25 × 106 psi E2 = 106 psi G12 = G13 = 05 × 106 psi G23 = 02 × 106 psi
12 = 025 2 = 3 1  1 = 10−6 /0 K
where subscript ‘1’ and ‘2’ signify the direction parallel to the fiber and the
transverse direction, respectively, for orthotropic materials.

The Solution Scheme

Here we are concerned with the closed form solutions of simply supported
square plates. The boundary conditions for simply supported edges are

v0 = w =  = Nx = Mx = Mxs = 0 at x = 0 and x = a
(14)
u0 = w =  = Ny = My = Mys = 0 at y = 0 and y = b
The assumed analytical solution is in the form of double trigonometric series, which
satisfies the governing equations and boundary conditions exactly. Such solution
in theory of plates and shells [29] is called a “closed-form” solution. This type
of solution was suggested by Navier (1820) for the bending problem of simply
supported rectangular plates. The uniform transverse mechanical load and uniform
thermal load are also expressed in terms of double Fourier trigonometric sine series
according to Navier’s solution procedure.
The following is the solution form for u0
x y v0
x y w
x y 
x y 
x y
that satisfies the governing Eqs. (9) through (13) and boundary conditions (14)
exactly, when expressed in terms of displacement variables
 
   sin ny
b 
 u0mn cos mx 

 u 0 

a 


 
 
 ny 


 v 
 
 v sin mx
cos 

  0    
0mn a b 
w = mx
wmn sin a sin b ny
(15)

 
 
m=1 n=1 



  
 
 ny 


    cos a sin b 
mx
   
 mn




  mx ny 
mn sin a cos b
 472 Y. M. GHUGAL AND S. K. KULKARNI

Thermal and transverse mechanical loads are expanded in double trigonometric sine
series as follows:
   

 1
T
 
 1mn 
T


T    
 
2
 
T2mn  mx ny
= sin sin (16)
 T3 
  T3mn 
 m=1 n=1   a b

   
 

q qmn

where the coefficients T1mn , T2mn , T3mn are given as follows:

   


T1mn 
 

T1 


T   
 
2mn 4  a  b T2  mx ny
= sin sin dx dy (17)
   
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

T 

ab 

T  a b
 
3mn 0 0 3
  
qmn q

The series coefficients T1mn , T2mn , T3mn are evaluated after integration of Eq. (17).
T1mn = T2mn = T3mn = 16T 0
2 mn for odd values of m, and n, for uniformly
distributed thermal load, where T0 represents the intensity of the thermal load.
qmn = 16q
2 mn for odd values of m and n in the case of uniformly distributed
0

transverse load, where q0 denotes the intensity of the transverse load.

Substitution of solution form given by Eqs. (15)–(16) into governing
Eqs. (9)–(13) results in a system of algebraic equations, which can be written into a
matrix form:

K  = f (18)

where K is the symmetric stiffness matrix,  = u0mn  v0mn  wmn  mn  mn T and
f is the generalized force vector.
From the solution of these equations unknown coefficients  can be obtained
readily. Substituting these coefficients into Eqs. (15), generalized displacements
and rotations can be obtained and subsequently in-plane stresses and transverse
stresses can be obtained. Although the transverse shear stress components can
be calculated from the constitutive relations, these stresses may not satisfy the
continuity conditions at the interface between layers. Hence, they are obtained
by integrating three-dimensional stress equilibrium equations of elasticity. These
equations are:

x yx 
+ + zx = 0 (19a)
x y z
xy y zy
+ + =0 (19b)
x y z
zx zy 
+ + zz = 0 (19c)
x y z

Substitute the expressions of in-plane normal stress
x  and in-plane shear stress

xy  in Eq. (19a) and in-plane normal stress y and in-plane shear stress
xy  in
 THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY LAMINATED PLATES 473

Eq. (19b) and integrate them with respect to thickness coordinate z in a layerwise
manner. The integration constants are obtained by imposing stress boundary
conditions of kth layer on the upper and lower surfaces of the kth layer. Using this
procedure, final expressions for transverse shear stresses are obtained to evaluate
these stresses through the thickness of the laminated plate.

RESULTS
In this article, displacements and stresses are determined for square three-layer
symmetric laminated plates subjected to uniformly distributed non-linear thermal
loads across the thickness of plate and uniform transverse mechanical load. The
results are presented in the following normalized forms for displacements and
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stresses according to Reddy [3] for the purpose of presentation in this article.
 
b h 1
ū = u 0  − 
2 2
q0 hs3 /E2  +
1 T0 a
 
a h 1
v̄ =v  0 − 
2 2
q0 hs /E2  +
1 T0 a
3

 
a b 100
w̄ =w  0 
2 2 q0 a4 /
E2 h3  + 1 T0 a2 /
10h
 
a b h 1
¯ x = x  − 
2 2 2
q0 a /h  +
E2 1 T0 b
2 2

 
a b h y
¯ y = y  − 
2 2 2
q0 a /h  +
E2 1 T0 b
2 2

 
h 1
¯ xy = xy 0 0 − 
2
q0 a /h  +
E2 1 T0 b
2 2

Table 1 Comparison of in-plane and transverse displacements under linear and non-linear
thermo-mechanical load for symmetric cross-ply laminated plate (0/90/0) for aspect ratios
S 4
and 10 (T1 = 0, m = 20, n = 20)

ū v̄ w̄

Theory S L NL L NL L NL

Present 0.0185 0.0420 0.0437 0.0781 3.1674 4.6797

HSDT 0.0150 0.0394 0.0217 0.0561 1.3374 2.7764
FSDT 4 0.0118 0.0347 0.0342 0.0680 2.8969 4.4118
CPT 0.0142 0.0395 0.0175 0.0509 0.8926 2.2975
Present 0.0117 0.0162 0.0193 0.0254 1.1130 1.3674
HSDT 0.0113 0.0159 0.0164 0.0226 0.9199 1.1736
FSDT 10 0.0103 0.0148 0.0173 0.0234 1.0374 1.2910
CPT 0.0108 0.0155 0.0130 0.0192 0.6802 0.9284
 474 Y. M. GHUGAL AND S. K. KULKARNI

Table 2 Comparison of in-plane stress under linear and non-linear thermo-mechanical load for
symmetric cross-ply laminated plate (0/90/0) for aspect ratios
S 4 and 10 (T1 = 0, m = 20, n = 20)

¯ x ¯ y ¯ xy

Theory S L NL L NL L NL

Present −1.1844 −2.4060 −0.1075 −0.1647 0.1579 0.4866

HSDT 4 −1.0439 −2.3122 −0.0463 −0.0947 0.0941 0.3642
FSDT −0.8077 −1.9764 −0.0904 −0.1525 0.1269 0.4814
CPT −0.9812 −2.3287 −0.0353 −0.0740 0.0736 0.2789
Present −0.8498 −1.0879 −0.0483 −0.0570 0.0622 0.1155
HSDT 10 −0.8498 −1.0914 −0.0398 −0.0481 0.0520 0.0989
FSDT −0.7782 −1.0134 −0.0443 −0.0532 0.0542 0.1104
CPT −0.8144 −1.0636 −0.0308 −0.0379 0.0444 0.0823
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Table 3 Comparison of transverse shear stress under linear and non-linear

thermo-mechanical load for symmetric cross-ply laminated plate (0/90/0) for aspect
ratios
S 4 and 10 (T1 = 0, m = 20, n = 20)

¯ EE
zx ¯ EE
zy

Theory S L NL L NL

Present 0.5794 0.6333 0.1502 -0.1082

HSDT 4 0.8653 0.9025 0.0565 -0.2385
FSDT 0.7459 0.6967 0.1101 -0.2112
CPT 0.9023 1.0446 0.0430 -0.2497
Present 0.8946 0.9111 0.1292 0.0722
HSDT 10 0.9547 0.9704 0.1160 0.0570
FSDT 0.9415 0.9472 0.1207 0.0590
CPT 0.9770 1.0078 0.1009 0.0423

 
b h 1
¯ xz = xz 0  − 
2 6
q0 a/h +
E2 1 T0 b
 
a h 1
¯ yz = yz  0 − (20)
2 6
q0 a/h +
E2 1 T0 b

All the displacements and stresses are evaluated using 20 terms of m and n in series
solutions for better convergence of the results. Results obtained for normalized
displacements and stresses are presented in Tables 1 through 3 and in Figures 2
through 4.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of displacements and stresses of square symmetric three-layer,
cross-ply laminated plates under uniform linear and non-linear thermo-mechanical
load are compared and discussed with the corresponding results of classical
plate theory (CPT), first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order
shear deformation theory (HSDT). It is to be noted that the complete results of
 THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY LAMINATED PLATES 475
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Figure 2 Variation of normalized in-plane stress
¯ x  through the thickness of three-layer laminated
plate for aspect ratio 4 under non-linear thermo-mechanical load.

Figure 3 Variation of normalized transverse shear stress
¯zy  for three-layer laminated plate for aspect
ratio 4 under non-linear thermo-mechanical load.
 476 Y. M. GHUGAL AND S. K. KULKARNI
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Figure 4 Variation of normalized transverse shear stress
¯zy  through the thickness of three-layer
laminated plate for aspect ratio 10 under non-linear thermo-mechanical load.

displacements and stresses are specially generated using the above theories for the
purpose of comparison and as discussion is not yet available in the literature. Hence,
these results can serve as a benchmark solution for the purpose of comparison by
other plate theories.

In-plane displacements
ū v̄ . In-plane displacements ū obtained by

present theory under non-linear thermo-mechanical load are 2.3% higher than
the results obtained under linear thermo-mechanical load, whereas in-plane
displacements v̄ obtained by present theory under non-linear thermo-mechanical
load are 3.4% higher than those obtained under linear thermo-mechanical load for
aspect ratio 4. Increment in results obtained by present theory under non-linear
thermo-mechanical load is in good agreement with HSDT and FSDT for aspect
ratio 4. In-plane displacements ū and v̄ obtained by present theory under non-linear
thermo-mechanical load are 0.45% and 0.6% higher than that of those obtained
under linear thermo-mechanical load, respectively, for aspect ratio 10.

Transverse displacements w̄ . The comparison of results of transverse

displacement for aspect ratios 4 and 10 under linear and non-linear thermo-
mechanical load is presented in Table 1. Transverse displacement obtained by
present theory under non-linear thermo-mechanical load is much higher than that in
 THERMAL RESPONSE OF SYMMETRIC CROSS-PLY LAMINATED PLATES 477

case of linear thermo-mechanical load for aspect ratio 4. However, this percentage
reduces as aspect ratio increases to 10.

In-plane normal and shear stresses
¯ x  ¯ y  ¯xy . The comparison of

results of in-plane normal stresses and in-plane shear stresses for aspect ratio 4 and
10 under linear and non-linear thermo-mechanical load are presented in Table 2.
For non-linear thermo-mechanical load, all the theories yield much higher value
of in-plane normal stress ¯ x compared to that in case of linear thermo-mechanical
load for aspect ratio 4. In-plane normal stress ¯ y obtained by present theory under
non-linear thermo-mechanical load is 5.72% higher than that of those obtained
under linear thermo-mechanical load for aspect ratio 4; however, this trend decrease
drastically for aspect ratio 10. In-plane shear stress ¯ xy under non-linear thermo-
mechanical load for aspect ratio 4 shows considerable increase of 30% obtained by
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present theory compared to that under linear thermo-mechanical load. However, for
aspect ratio 10, this increase is 5.4%.

Transverse shear stresses
¯zx  ¯zy . The comparison of results of

transverse shear stresses for aspect ratio 4 and 10 under linear and non-linear
thermo-mechanical load are presented in Table 3. Transverse shear stress ¯ zx
obtained by present theory under non-linear thermo-mechanical load for aspect
ratio 4 shows 5.3% rise in value than that of linear thermo-mechanical load.
However, this rise in value reduces to 1.6% for aspect ratio 10. Due to non-linear
thermo-mechanical load transverse shear stress ¯ zy changes its nature of variation
through the thickness of plate for aspect ratio 4 compared to that with linear
thermo-mechanical load. When aspect ratio changes from 4 to 10, the through
thickness variation of this stress shows the transition from negative to positive.

CONCLUSIONS
Thermo-elastic flexural response of symmetric cross-ply laminated plate under
uniform linear and non-linear thermal load across the thickness of plate and
uniform transverse mechanical load has been studied by using trigonometric
shear deformation theory. The results obtained by this theory are compared
with classical plate theory, first-order shear deformation theory and higher-order
shear deformation theory. The significant increase in displacements and stresses is
observed under non-linear thermo-mechanical load as compared to that in the case
of linear thermal load in combination with the uniformly distributed transverse
mechanical load.

APPENDIX
The following notations are used in the paper:
Term Definition
a b Edge lengths of plate in x and y directions, respectively
E, G,  Elastic constants of material
h Thickness of plate
 478 Y. M. GHUGAL AND S. K. KULKARNI

S Aspect ratio for plate = a/h

u In-plane displacement in x direction
v In-plane displacement in y direction
w Transverse displacement in zdirection
x y z Rectangular Cartesian coordinates
x  y In-plane stresses in x and y directions, respectively
xy In-plane shear stress in x − y plane
zx  zy Transverse shear stresses in z − x and z − y plane, respectively
  Unknown functions associated with shear slopes
ū, v̄ Normalized in-plane displacements in x and y directions
w̄ Normalized transverse displacement
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¯ x  ¯ y Normalized in-plane normal stresses

¯ xy Normalized in-plane shear stress
¯ zx  ¯ zy Normalized transverse shear stress
¯ EE
zx Normalized transverse shear stress obtained by equilibrium equations
¯ EE
zy Normalized transverse shear stress obtained by equilibrium equations
L Linear thermal load in combination with transverse mechanical load
NL Nonlinear thermal load in combination with transverse mechanical load

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