ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the constitutive equations of circular cylindrical laminates for the three loadings that appear in engineering practice, namely the hydric, the thermal and the mechanical loadings. Most industrial applications of composites involve thin circular cylindrical laminates under internal pressure. The circular cylinders subjected to internal pressure preserve their circular shape and all plies develop the same strain, regardless of their position in the laminate. The stresses, however, vary from ply to ply according to their stiffness and orientation. This prevents the laminate analysis in terms of stresses. The laminate constitutive equations make use of force and moment resultants in place of stresses. The thermal reactive moments develop every time cylindrical laminates of circular cross section undergo temperature changes. The external mechanical load resultants are independent of the laminate construction. The preservation of circularity allows the analysis of asymmetric laminates as if they were symmetric.
