Hygrothermal effects on the bending characteristics of laminated composite plates

Effects of moisture and temperature on the bending characteristics of laminated composite plates are investigated. The analysis is carried out by the finite element method using the quadratic isoparametric plate bending element which takes transverse shear deformation into account. The analysis also accounts for reduced lamina material properties at the elevated moisture concentration and temperature. Deflections and stress resultants are obtained for anti-symmetric cross-ply and angle-ply laminates for simply-supported and clamped boundary conditions at different moisture concentrations and temperatures, and their dependence on moisture and temperature is studied.