Thermal buckling of activated shape memory reinforced laminated plates

The analysis of thermal buckling of rectangular active laminated composite plates is presented. The plates consist of layers of a unidirectional composite with shape memory alloy fibers embedded in polymeric or metallic matrices. The fibers are activated by a mechanical loading-unloading cycle which is applied to the laminated plate, prior to the application of the thermal loading. Micromechanically established constitutive equations for the unidirectional composite in conjunction with the laminated plate analysis enable the accurate modeling of the layered structure behavior through the activation and the thermally induced loss of stability. The conditions for the occurrence of the latter are discussed.