Mechanical behaviour of bimodulus laminated plates

A new analytical method for the prediction of the mechanical behaviour of laminates consisting of layers having different properties in tension and compression is proposed in this paper. As a case study, bending of simply supported, multilayered, unsymmetric, specially orthotropic laminates under various types of lateral loads is considered. The underlying bending theory used is a higher-order shear deformation theory. With the proposed method, laminates having more than two layers, not necessarily in an antisymmetric stacking sequence, can be analyzed. The validity of the new method is confirmed by comparing its results with the ones of other simpler theories. Finally, as an example, deflections, strains and stresses are calculated for a five-layer, unsymmetric, specially-orthotropic laminate.