Bending characteristics of delaminated cross-ply composite shallow conical shells in hygrothermal environment

In the present study, the influence of temperature and moisture concentration on the bending characteristics of delaminated rotating composite conical shells has been investigated. The shells with initial twist are considered for moderate rotational speeds wherein Coriolis effect is assumed to be absent. The effects of rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation have been incorporated in the present finite element formulation along with the multi-point constraint algorithm for modeling the delamination. Graphical results have been presented depicting the contours of deflection and relative moment along the planform of the conical shell resulting from centrifugal and hygrothermal forces taking into account the influence of twist angle, stacking sequence, rotational speed, and size of delamination present inside the laminate.