An approximate method for prediction of transverse shear stresses in a laminated shell (Q580031)

A method has been presented wherein the surface-parallel stresses in a laminated shell are first computed using standard finite element formulation and then approximate transverse shear stress variation through the shell thickness is obtained utilizing the first two (stress) equations of equilibrium and divergence theorem. Numerical results have been presented for both homogeneous isotropic and laminated anisotropic cylindrical shells using the Cartesian-like Riemann coordinate approximation and compared to the corresponding analytical solutions.