The response of cylindrical panels fabricated from symmetrically and unsymmetrically laminated composite materials

Abstract

Equations are developed which govern the deflection response of long cylindrical panels subjected to a line load. The line load is directed toward the center of curvature of the panel, is located at an arbitrary point along the arc length of the panel, and is included at an arbitrary angle relative to the radial direction. Only the geometrically linear problem is considered and the spatial dependence in the problem is reduced to one independent variable, specifically, the arc length along the panel. The problem is thus solvable in closed form. Both symmetrically laminated and the less common unsymmetrically laminated simply supported panels are studied. The unsymmetrically laminated case was considered because the natural shape of an unsymmetric laminate is cylindrical. Results are presented which show the influence of the location and inclination of the line load on panel deflection. Shallow and deep panels are considered. Both the symmetric and unsymmetric panels exhibit similar behavior, the unsymmetric configurations being less stiff. Limited experimental results are presented