A DQ nonlinear bending analysis of skew composite thin plates

A first endeavor is made to exploit the differential quadrature method (DQM) as a simple, accurate, and computationally efficient numerical tool for the large deformation analysis of thin laminated composite skew plates, which has very strong singularity at the obtuse vertex. The geometrical nonlinearity is modeled by using Green's strain and von Karman assumption. A recently developed DQ methodology is used to exactly implement the multiple boundary conditions at the edges of skew plates, which is a major draw back of conventional DQM. Using oblique coordinate system and the DQ methodology, a mapping-DQ discretization rule is developed to simultaneously transform and discretize the equilibrium equations and the related boundary conditions. The effects of skew angle, aspect ratio and different types of boundary conditions on the convergence and accuracy of the presented method are studied. Comparing the results with the available results from other numerical or analytical methods, it is shown that accurate results are obtained even when using only small number of grid points. Finally, numerical results for large deflection behavior of antisymmetric cross ply skew plates with different geometrical parameters and boundary conditions are presented.