Analysis of thermal stresses at free corners of laminated plates

A closed-form method fort he calculation of the stress field at corners of thermally loaded composite laminates is presented. Based on adequate shape assumptions fort he in-plane stress components the interlaminar stresses are derived from the three-dimensional equilibrium conditions. The free parameters are determined by the minimization of the laminate's complimentary potential energy. The method is found in good agreement with finite element computations and yields rather accurate results with little computational effort.