THERMO‐ELASTOVISCOPLASTIC FINITE ELEMENT PLATE BENDING ANALYSES OF COMPOSITES

A formulation has been developed for thermo‐elastoviscoplastic finite element analyses of continuous fibre‐reinforced composite plates subject to bending loading using a generalized continuum mechanics approach. Such an approach is used to model the non‐homogeneity in a composite, which is constituted by fibres embedded in a matrix material. The present formulation computes the respective stresses occurring in each constituent so that the respective yield criterion and flow rule of each constituent may be used if there is a material yielding in any constituent. Thermo‐elastic deformation of fibre and thermo‐elastoviscoplastic deformation of matrix are considered in the present study because the yield strength of fibre is substantially higher than that of matrix in many cases. Both constituents are assumed to be isotropic so that the von‐Mises yield criterion may be used for viscoplastic yielding of matrix. As numerical examples, a parametric study is performed for thermo‐elastoviscoplastic deformations of laminated composite plates subject to thermal bending loads.