On the radial bending of shear-deformable composite circular plates with rectilinear orthotropy

The objective of this work is the derivation of an analysis methodology for composite circular plates undergoing radial bending. This class of plates features a circumferential variation of the stiffness properties because they are characterized by axisymmetric geometry and rectilinearly oriented reinforcing fibers. The load condition consists in a bending moment acting along the radial direction and the theoretical framework is defined according to first-order shear deformation theory. The problem is formulated with regard to the composite bolted joint theoretical reference model. In fact, this solution is a preliminary step for the definition a user defined finite element for the analysis of this kind of joints. The definition of the constitutive equations for this class of plates is outlined. The solution approach is based on the principle of virtual displacements and the Ritz method, it required the derivation of specific approximation functions for the displacement field. Then, the problem solution is obtained through a system of algebraic equations. Numerical case studies are presented to show the capabilities of the proposed method; results are very good matching with FEA ones utilized as a reference.