On the Buckling of Isotropic, Transversely Isotropic and Laminated Composite Rectangular Plates

This paper presents the uniaxial and biaxial buckling analysis of rectangular plates based on new trigonometric shear and normal deformation theory. The theory accounts for the cosine distribution of the transverse shear strain through the plate thickness and on the free boundary conditions on the plate surfaces without using the shear correction factor. Governing equations and boundary conditions of the theory are derived by the principle of virtual work. The Navier type solutions for the buckling analysis of simply supported isotropic, transversely isotropic, orthotropic and symmetric cross-ply laminated composite rectangular plates subjected to uniaxial and biaxial compressions are presented. The effects of variations in the degree of orthotropy of the individual layers, side-to-thickness ratio and aspect ratio of the plate are examined on the buckling characteristics of composite plates. The present results are compared with those of the classical plate theory (CPT), first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and exact three-dimensional (3D) elasticity theory wherever applicable. Good agreement is achieved of the present results with those of higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and elasticity theory.