Prevention of thermal bending of multilayered beams and plates

A method is described to prevent bending in multilayered beams and plates of different isotropic materials with uniform and nonuniform temperature distribution through the thickness. The method involved the addition of an extra layer to the multilayered beams or plates. With the proper selection of the thermoelastic properties, the added layer would eliminate the curvature produced prior to this addition. A complete analysis for the determination of the various thermoelastic parameters of the extra layer was made. In addition, to ensure that the multilayered beams and plates actually remained straight, a thermoelastic analysis was performed for the solution of thermal stresses and strains in the laminate. The results gave assurance to the straightness of the laminate since the calculated strains have the same value throughout the thickness. The solutions are valid for any given uniform temperature change and for any given nonlinear temperature distribution through the thickness of the multilayered beams and plates. Several numerical examples are presented that illustrate the application of the method for various temperature distributions. A simple experiment was conducted that showed the validity of the analytical method. A brass strip was added to a bimetalic strip made of aluminum and steel at room temperature. The thickness of the brass strip was calculated from the theory to prevent bending. The trimetal strip was placed in a furnace and, as expected, it remained straight for varying temperatures.