Analysis of Arbitrarily Laminated Composite Beams Using Chebyshev Series

In this work a simple technique for the analysis of arbitrarily laminated composite beams is proposed using a higher-order shear deformation theory. The governing equations are derived by minimizing the total potential energy of arbitrarily laminated beams undergoing axial and transverse shear strains under laterally distributed load. The displacement and rotation of the beam center line are expanded in Chebyshev series. Using a standard procedure the governing equations are cast in matrix form, which is easily handled by electronic computers. The displacements and stresses of several laminated beams are calculated and compared with published results.