The College of Engineering at the University of Baghdad held the public defense of the Master’s thesis submitted by Ahmed Khamis Saba Ali, a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The thesis was entitled:

“Thermal Stability of Laminated Composite Plates Using Refined Shear Deformation Theory.”

The defense was held on Monday, June 29, 2026, in the Prof. Dr. Ihsan Yahya Hussein Hall at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, as part of the requirements for the Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering Sciences.

The defense committee consisted of:

1. Prof. Dr. Ibtehal Abbas Sadiq – University of Baghdad, College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering — Chair.
2. Assist. Prof. Dr. Hamza Abdul-Rasoul Hussein – University of Baghdad, College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering — Member.
3. Assist. Prof. Dr. Rasha Mohammed Hussein – University of Technology, College of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering — Member.
4. Prof. Dr. Widad Ibrahim Majeed – University of Baghdad, College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering — Supervisor.

The study investigated the thermal buckling and free vibration of laminated composite plates, using a theoretical analysis based on an enhanced four-variable refined shear deformation theory, a numerical analysis using ANSYS Workbench 2025 R2, and experimental testing of composite plates manufactured through the vacuum infusion process using glass fibers and polyester.

The results demonstrated good agreement among the theoretical, numerical, and experimental solutions. The maximum difference between the experimental and theoretical results was 11.37% for cross-ply plates and 18.64% for angle-ply plates, confirming the accuracy of the proposed model and its computational efficiency.

Key Recommendations

1. Adopting the refined shear deformation theory for the analysis of composite plates due to its accuracy and its ability to eliminate the need for a shear correction factor.
2. Utilizing the vacuum infusion method in manufacturing composite plates to reduce voids and increase the fiber volume fraction.
3. Selecting the appropriate ply arrangement and stacking sequence according to the required thermal loading conditions.
4. Integrating theoretical analysis with numerical simulations and experimental testing to validate the obtained results.

Following the scientific discussion conducted by the members of the defense committee, the researcher was awarded an Excellent grade.