STROJN ´ ICKY ˇ CASOPIS, 59, 2008, ˇ c. 1 53 Letter to the Editor Study of thermoelastic behaviour of skew laminated composite plate with circular cutout using finite element method A. VENKATA SUDHAKAR 1 , V. RAMA CHANDRA RAJU 2 , V. BALA KRISHNA MURTHY 3 , K. MOHANA RAO 4 , M. S. R. NIRANJAN KUMAR 1∗ The thermoelastic behaviour of a laminated composite skew plate with hole subjected to non-linear variation of temperature as well as combined tem- perature and transverse pressure loading has been investigated in the present analysis. The finite element method which works on the basis of three-dimens- ional theory of elasticity is employed to evaluate the transverse deflection and in-plane stresses. In most of the cases the magnitudes of the transverse de- flection and in-plane stresses for combined loading are observed to be less at higher skew angles, because the distance between opposite sides of the plate decreases with increase in skew angle causing an increase in the stiffness of the plate. K e y w o r d s: FEM, skew laminate, cutout, interlaminar stresses 1. Introduction In the design of modern high-speed aircraft and missile structures, swept wing and tail surfaces are extensively employed. Moreover some of the structural ele- ments are provided with cutouts of different shapes to meet the functional require- ments like i) for the passage of various cables, ii) for undertaking maintenance work, iii) for fitting auxiliary equipment, etc. Depending upon the nature of application, 1 Production Engineering Department, V. R. S. Engineering College, Vijayawada-520 007, India 2 R & D Unit, J. N. T. University, Hyderabad-72, Andhra Pradesh, India 3 P. V. P. Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada-520 007, India 4 C. R. Reddy College of Engineering, Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, India * Corresponding author, e-mail address: m niranjankumar@rediffmail.com, msr 23nir@yahoo.co.in