Paper number 734

DESIGNING WITH ANISOTROPY. PART 1 : METHODS AND GENERAL RESULTS FOR LAMINATES.

G. Verchery.

ISAT - Institut Supérieur de l'Automobile et des Transports,
LRMA - Laboratoire de Recherche en Mécanique et Acoustique,
49, Rue Mademoiselle Bourgeois - BP 31, 58027 Nevers Cedex, France.
Georges.Verchery_isat@u-bourgogne.fr

Summary

The so-called polar description for two-dimensional anisotropy is first outlined. It gives a systematic approach which generalises notions such as the well-known Mohr's circles for second order symmetrical tensors. It is an efficient tool to deal with anisotropy and consequently can be applied to analysis as well as design. Its power is illustrated in the case of the classical laminated plate theory. This theory predicts efficiently the overall behaviour of the plate in the elastic range from the properties of the laminas and the stacking sequence, but the related inverse problems, such as defining the staking sequence in order to obtain definite laminate properties, have received only limited solutions. It is shown that the use of the polar description answers to some extend to these inverse problems and introduces new concepts of composite materials. As an example, the concept of quasi-homogeneous composite is defined and the principle for designing such materials is outlined.

Keywords

composites design, inverse problems, polar description of anisotropy.