Shear deformation effects

• Classical plate theory (CPT), of which classical

lamination theory (CLT) assume that there is no shear
deformation.
• Strains vary linearly through the thickness and normal
remain normal (Kirchoff-Love assumptions, 1888).
• Gustav Kirchoff (1824-1887, German),Augustus Love
(1863-1940, British)
• There are shear deformation theories that remove the
second assumption, and theories that remove both.
• We will go over the Timoshenko beam theory that
removes the second assumption for beams.
• Then we will look at some results for plates.
Timoshenko beam theory (Wikipedia)
• Stephen Timoshenko (1878-1972, Ukraine, US)
proposed in 1921.
• Strain is still linear function of z, but normal
do not remain normal
 Basic equations
• Displacements 𝑢 =
− 𝑧𝜑 𝑥 , 𝑤 = 𝑤 𝑥 , 𝑣 = 0
• Governing equations
d 2  d 
2 
EI   q( x)
dx  dx 
dw 1 d  d 
   EI 
dx kAG dx  dx 
• Combined
d 4w EI d 2 q
EI 4  q ( x) 
dx kAG dx 2
 Beam under end load P
PL3 PL
wtip  
• Tip displacement 3EI kGA
• Ratio of shear to bending deformation
3E   
2
wshear
    I/A
wbending kG  L 
• k is 1 for an ideal I beam, 5/6 for rectangular
section.
• For metals, 3E/kG is close to 10, so shear
deformation is negligible except for stubby beams
with radius of inertia over L less than 10.
• For composites G is much smaller, hence shear
deformation more important
 Representative results
• Source: Whitney’s Structural Analysis of
laminated Anisotropic Plates, Chapter 10,
Technomic, 1987.
• Material characteristics 𝐸𝐿 Τ𝐸𝑇 =
25, 𝐺𝐿𝑇 Τ𝐸𝑇 = 0.5, 𝐺𝑇𝑇 Τ𝐸𝑇 = 0.2, 𝜈𝐿𝑇 = 0.25
• Weaker in shear than the materials we have
used.
Displacements
Buckling
Frequency
 Shear stresses
• Shear loading leads to shear stresses, which
are important for delamination failure.
• Shear stresses can be approximated as they
are done in beam theory.
• Good paper: Simplified shear solution for
determination of shear stress distribution in a
composite panel from the applied shear
resultant, by Bednarcyk, Aboudi, Yarrington
and Collier (see link in schedule).