Buckling Behavior of Non-Uniformly Heated Tapered Laminated Composite Plates with Ply Drop-Off

The thermal buckling characteristics of non-uniformly heated tapered laminated composites plates with ply drop-off have been investigated numerically. Detailed parametric studies have been carried out for the effects of taper configuration, temperature variation, aspect ratio and structural boundary conditions on critical buckling temperatures and buckling mode shapes. It is found that the nature of taper as well as the applied temperature field have considerable effects on the critical buckling temperatures of laminated composite tapered plates. Square plates buckle at the highest temperature when subjected to the decreasing temperature profile. Additionally, it is noted that Taper B and Taper C plates show the best behavior under buckling for most structural boundary conditions. Moreover, the change in buckling mode shapes with respect to temperature profile and taper configuration is significant for rectangular plates in comparison with square plates.