Generalized 2-unknown's HSDT to study isotropic and orthotropic composite plates

The present study introduces a generalized 2-unknown's higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) for isotropic and orthotropic plates. The well-known Shimpi's two-unknown's HSDT is reproduced as a special case. Reddy's shear strain shape function (SSSF) is also adapted to the present generalized theory. The results show that both Shimpi and the adapted Reddy' HSDT are essentially the same, i.e., both present the same static results. This is due to the fact that both theories use polynomial SSSFs. This study presents a new optimized cotangential SSSF. The generalized governing equation obtained from the principle of virtual displacement is solved via the Navier closed-form solution. Results show that transverse shear stresses can be improved substantially when nonpolynomial SSSFs are utilized. Finally, this theory is attractive and has the potential to study other mechanical problems such as bending in nanoplates due to its reduced number of unknown's variables.