Thermal postbuckling analysis of laminated cross-ply truncated circular conical shells

In this work, thermoelastic postbuckling behavior of cross-ply laminated composite conical shells under presumed uniform temperature distribution is studied. The finite deflection analysis is carried out to determine the relationship between the maximum deflection and the temperature rise, and to evaluate the minimum temperature parameter that causes the bifurcation of shell deformation from axisymmetric deformation mode to asymmetric one. The formulation is based on first-order shear deformation theory that accounts for the transverse shear. The governing equations, derived using minimum total potential energy principle, are solved using semi-analytical finite element approach. The critical temperature parameter values corresponding to the onset of bifurcation are compared with those evaluated from linear eigenvalue analysis. The detailed study is carried out to highlight the influences of length-to-radius and radius-to-thickness ratios, semi-cone angle, number of layers and the boundary conditions on the nonlinear prebuckling/postbuckling thermoelastic response of the laminated circular conical shells. The participation of axisymmetric and asymmetric modes in the total response of the shells is also highlighted.