The plane problem of an elliptically reinforced circular hole in an anisotropic plate or laminate

Summary  Within the scope of linear elasticity, the in-plane problem of an anisotropic plate or laminate with a circular hole and an elliptical hole reinforcement is considered. Arbitrary anisotropic elastic stiffnesses are allowed for the base plate and the reinforcement material, and for the reinforcement there is no restriction for its elliptical shape and size. The analysis of the problem is performed by the complex potential method with appropriately chosen series representations inside and outside the reinforcement region. The derived closed-form solution provides all resultant in-plane stresses and deformations within and around the hole reinforcement with little computational effort and at high accuracy. The determined solution allows a proper and effective assessment of hole reinforcements for many technical applications. Received 26 June 2000; accepted for publication 26 September 2000