Boundary-layer hygrothermal stresses in laminated, composite, circular, cylindrical shell panels

Free-edge effects in laminated, circular, cylindrical shell panels subjected to hygrothermal loading are studied by utilizing displacement-based technical theories. Starting from the most general displacement field of elasticity for long, circular, cylindrical shells, appropriate reduced displacement fields are determined for laminated composite shell panels with cross-ply and antisymmetric angle-ply layups. An equivalent single-layer shell theory is used to analytically determine the constant parameters appearing in the reduced displacement fields. A layerwise shell theory is then employed to analytically determine the local displacement functions and the boundary-layer interlaminar stresses in cross-ply and antisymmetric angle-ply shell panels under hygroscopic and/or thermal changes. Several numerical examples for the distributions of transverse shear and normal stresses in various shell panels under a uniform temperature change are presented and discussed.