A proposal for a unified high-order quasi-3D kinematic model coupled with zigzag function to model laminated composite beams

Resumo

Laminated composite materials have become increasingly prevalent in various engineering applications due to their remarkable stiffness/mass ratio and ease of manufacture. However, the classical theory fails to address certain limitations in modeling laminated composite beams, such as the absence of shear stress at the top and bottom edges, the non-uniform distribution of the shear stress field, and the zigzag effect in the field axial displacement. This study presents a newly proposed unified high-order quasi-3D kinematic model, which is coupled with a novel zigzag function to overcome the limitations encountered when it uses classical beam theory. This approach eliminates the need for correction factors required in Timoshenko beam theory and accurately captures the cross-section warping and transverse normal deformation resulting from the incorporated quasi-3D effect. Finally, the results were validated by comparing the displacement fields, normal stresses, transverse normal stress, and shear stress with reference values in the literature.