Effect of Aspect Ratio, Degree of Orthotropy and Coefficient of Thermal Expansion on Transverse Displacement of Laminated Beams

The impact of orthotropy on thermal displacement is useful to optimize thermal management systems in space structures. The thermal response of the beam is greatly affected by its aspect ratio. The expansion or contraction due to difference in coefficient of thermal expansion affects the structural integrity of the beam. An analytical model helps to understand the effect of these parameters on transverse thermal displacement of laminated beam. Hence, in the present work the effect of change of aspect ratio, degree of orthotropy and coefficient of thermal expansion ratio on transverse thermal displacement of orthotropic and cross ply laminated beams has been studied and presented. The trigonometric beam theory is used. The present theory has sine function in terms of thickness coordinate representing the shear deformation effect. The equations of motions are developed by using principle of virtual work. The transverse deflections are obtained by applying Navier’s solution. A computer program in FORTRAN-77 is developed to obtain transverse deflection for various aspect ratios, modular ratios and coefficient of thermal expansion ratios.