A modified first order shear deformation theory for Reissner-Mindlin composite panels with internal delamination

In this paper, an extended first order shear deformation theory is proposed for Reissner-Mindlin laminated composite panels with internal delamination. The distinctive feature of the present theory is that a contact mechanism is involved in the governing equations based on FSDT by introducing a constitutive relation between the contact force and the transverse deflection and are expressed in terms of the displacements and the rotation functions....