Coupled stretching-bending analysis of assembled thin laminated plate structures via boundary elements

Recently, a boundary element formulation for the coupled stretching-bending analysis of thin laminated plates has been developed. The related boundary integral equations were obtained with the aid of the Betti-Rayleigh reciprocal theorem and the fundamental solutions were derived through the use of a Stroh-like complex variable formalism. Here, this formulation is extended in order to cover problems of assembled thin laminated plate structures by means of the subregions technique. Following this approach, each plate is considered separately and then joined together by imposing equilibrium conditions and displacement compatibility along interface edges. Furthermore, remaining domain integrals present in the original formulation, related to distributed loads, are transformed into boundary integrals using the radial integration method. Some examples are presented and the numerical results are compared with those provided by a finite element software, certifying the reliability and accuracy of the present formulation.