Nonlinear analysis of laminated composite plates using the mesh-free kp-Ritz method based on FSDT

A mesh-free kp-Ritz method of solution based on the kernel particle approximation for the field variables is proposed for the large deflection flexural analysis of laminated composite plates. The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is used for modeling the flexure. The nonlinear solution algorithm is based on the total Lagrangian formulation with Green's strain measures and von Karman assumptions. The incremental form of nonlinear equations is obtained by Taylor series expansion, and Newton's method is used to solve these equations. Test problems involving square and rectangular composite plates with SSSS and CCCC boundary conditions are solved to assess the efficacy of the proposed method. The results are in excellent agreement with the series solution as well as the finite element solution already reported in the literature. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.