Bending analysis of moderately thick laminated conical panels with various boundary conditions

Bending analysis of moderately thick laminated conical panels with various boundary conditions is presented using the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method. Different combinations of clamped, simply supported, and free boundary conditions are considered. General lay up of laminates including symmetric and asymmetric panels is considered. Assuming the effects of shear deformation and initial curvature, the governing partial differential equations (PDEs) of the problem consist of 15 first-order PDEs in terms of unknown displacements, rotations, moments, and forces. Solution domain, governing equations and related boundary conditions are then discretized based on the GDQ technique. Results revealed that convergence of the method is very fast as it provides reasonably accurate results with a relatively small number of grid points. It is also demonstrated that a similar formulation and solution technique can be used to obtain predictions for sector plates by assuming appropriate geometrical parameters. Comparison of the predictions with results of other analytical and numerical methods shows very good agreement. Further results for symmetric and asymmetric laminated conical panels with various boundary conditions are also presented and validated using the commercial finite-element code ABAQUS for future references.