An accurate determination of stresses in thick laminates using a generalized plate theory

Analytical solutions for displacements and stresses in composite laminates are developed using the laminate plate theory of Reddy. The theory accounts for a desired degree of approximation of the displacements through the laminate thickness, allowing for piecewise approximation of the inplane deformation through individual laminae. The solutions are compared with the 3‐D elasticity solutions for the simply supported case and excellent agreement is found. Analytical solutions are also presented for other boundary conditions. The results indicate that the generalized shear deformation plate theory predicts accurate stress distributions in thick composite laminates.