Highly anisotropic corrugated laminates deflection under uniform pressure

Abstract Corrugated laminates with large corrugation amplitude have highly anisotropic stiffness properties. Here, the bending response of rectangular corrugated laminates to homogeneous transverse pressure is investigated. The center-point deflection of thin laminates with high corrugation amplitude is controlled by the higher bending-stiffness value alone. Simple formulas for calculating the center-point deflection are developed from beam formulas by replacing beam bending stiffness with plate bending stiffness and the line load with pressure. A finite-element model is used to verify the results and to illustrate the peculiar load-carrying action of the highly anisotropic plate. Further an error analysis is presented to indicate for which stiffness and aspect ratios the beam-equation modeling approach is valid and can be used for preliminary design.