A unified finite element modeling/analysis approach for thermal-structural response in layered composites

A computational finite element modeling/analysis approach for unified thermal-structural response in layered composites is described. Basic concepts of the methodology including the characteristic features of the formulations are presented in technical detail. First, layered thermal finite elements capable of handling varying thermophysical layer properties are described for thermal modeling/analysis. Next, layered structural finite elements which use concepts of substitute shape functions are described for effectively modeling bending and plane stress or plane strain type problems. Finally, unified thermostructural formulations for combined thermal-structural modeling/analysis are described. Results demonstrate that the layered thermal elements can be effectively interfaced with the layered structural elements for unified analysis and the models predict good agreement for thermal, structural, and combined thermal-structural responses, respectively, with relatively reduced model sizes.