Thermal stress analysis of variable angle tow composite plates through high-order structural models

This work focuses on thermo-elastic analysis of Variable Angle Tow (VAT) composite plates. Emphasis is given to the through-the-thickness 3D stress component distributions as a consequence of constant temperature profiles. High-order structural models are used, in order to take into account the volumetric and the distortion contributions. The last contribute arise from boundary conditions or asymmetric staking sequences. Governing equations of the uncoupled thermo-elastic problem are derived in the domain of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), which in turn is coupled with a classical finite element method to obtain opportune numerical solutions. The advantage of using CUF lies in the fact that different theories of structures can be implemented automatically and a critical study on the use of standard to high-order plate finite elements can be performed with ease. In this manner we classify models based on their efficiency and depending on the degree of accuracy needed, both in terms of displacements and stresses. Different numerical problems are considered and it is demonstrated that layerwise approximations are needed whenever shear stresses trends are of interest. Boundary Conditions influence more the choice of the adequate expansion theory otherwise.