TRANSVERSE NORMAL STRAIN EFFECTS ON THERMAL STRESS ANALYSIS OF HOMOGENEOUS AND LAYERED PLATES
A study of the transverse normal strain effect on the static thermoelastic response of homogeneous and multilayered plates is presented. Numerical evaluations have been given for classical, refined, and advanced zig-zag plate theories. Constant, linear, and higher-order forms of temperature profile in the plate thickness direction have been accounted for. Basic assumptions of the considered theories are quoted. The related governing equations are not given because these were derived from a unified formulation that was described elsewhere. Closed-form solutions are discussed by addressing three plate problems: a homogeneous plate made of an isotropic layer; a two-layered plate consisting of two layers made of different isotropic materials; a multilayered composite plate made of three cross-ply layers. It has been confirmed that any refinements of classical models are generally meaningless, unless the effects of transverse shear and normal strains are both taken into account in a plate theory. Furthermore, it has been found that transverse normal strains cannot be discarded even though thin plates are considered and the accurate description of the temperature profile in the plate thickness direction could result to be meaningless, unless transverse normal strains are taken into account, and vice versa.