Abstract
The nonlinear behavior of unsymmetric filamentary composite laminated plates is investigated. The simplifying reduced stiffness model is used to demonstrate its adequacy in predicting the nonlinear deflection and stress characteristics of the laminates. The effect of coupling that exists in such laminates as well as the effect of large lateral loads producing excessive deflections are studied. Experimental results obtained from tests on various laminated plates with different boundary conditions are compared with the predicted theoretical values. The governing equations are solved by means of a finite difference scheme and an iterative process.