MechanicsofLaminated

CompositeStructures
NachiketaTiwari
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
IndianInstituteofTechnologyKanpur

Lecture37
Buckling of Plates
BucklingofPlates

BucklingofPlates

Inpreviouslecture,ithasbeenshownthataplatebucklesonceexternal
compressiveloadonitexceedsacertainvalue.Wewereabletopredictits
p
p
bucklingloadbycalculatingthevalueofNcr atwhichsecondvariationof
P.E.becamezero.

Inthesecalculationswehaveusedtheenergymethodtocalculate
bucklingload.However,suchanapproachthoughidealforcomputers,is
tediousforhandcalculations.

Hence,wewillnowdeveloprelationssimilartoequationsofequilibrium,
which will help us identify buckling loads.
whichwillhelpusidentifybucklingloads.

BucklingofPlates

Consideraplate,whichissymmetricandalsospeciallyorthotropic.Thus,
suchaplatewillhave:
p
[B]=[0]
A16 =A26 =D16 =D26 =0.

Ifsuchaplateisloadedincompressionthenitwillinitiallyremainflat,but
afteracertainthresholdloaditwillbuckleunderexternalcompressive
load.Since,theplateissymmetricitsinitialdisplacementfieldatitsmid
o andv
planewillbe(u
l
ll b ( o,vo,0),whereu
) h
d o arefunctionsofx
f
f andy.Forsuch
d
h
astate,itsinitialP.E.canbegottenfromsimplifiedversionsofEq.29.4.
and29.5.Thus,

(Eq.36.1)

BucklingofPlates

Next,weperturbtheplatewithsomedisturbancesuchthatthefinal
displacementis:
p
(Eq.36.2)

W
WenowuseEq.36.2tofindnewvalueofP.E.ofthesystem.
E 36 2 t fi d
l
f P E f th
t

(Eq.36.3)

InEq.36.3,expressionsfor
In
Eq. 36.3, expressions for new
new N
Nx,N
, Ny,havebeencalculatedusing
, have been calculated using
reviseddefinitionofstrainsasgiveninEq.36.4asshownfurther.

BucklingofPlates

(Eq.36.4)

Next,wefindthedifferencebetweentwoenergyvalues,i.e..The
expressionfor canbewrittenas:
=1 +22 +22 + 444 +...

((Eq.36.5)
q
)

Welookat1st twotermsofEq.36.5inparticular.The1st variationofP.E.,

when equated to zero, gives us the condition for equilibrium.
whenequatedtozero,givesustheconditionforequilibrium.

BucklingofPlates

(Eq.36.6)
(Eq
36 6)
ThisisidenticaltoEq.29.7,exceptthatitdoesnothavetermsinvolving
Mx,My,Mxy,andTz.Thisisonlytobeexpectedas:
The
Theplateisnotsubjectedtonormalloads.Hence,thevalueofT
plate is not subjected to normal loads Hence the value of Tz termiszero.
term is zero
Wehaveassumedthattheprimarysolutionforthisproblemdoesnotinvolvewo.
displacement.Furthertheplateissymmetricallylaminated.Hencetherearenomoment
relatedtermsinthisequation.

Now,wecanconductmathematicaloperationssimilartotheoneswhich
weperformedtodevelopEq.30.5.Thus,wegetthefollowingsetof
equilibrium equations which help us determine platessprimary
equilibriumequations,whichhelpusdetermineplate
primary
configuration.

BucklingofPlates

(Eq.36.7)

Also,theboundaryconditionsfortheseequationsaresameasthose
describedinlecture31.Wenotehowever,thatallBCsrelatedtooutof
planedirectionareidenticallysatisfied.

Next,welookatterm2 inEq.36.5.

BucklingofPlates

Reorganizingtheseterms,weget:

(Eq.36.8)
where,

Next,weintegrateindividualtermsinEq.36.8byparts.Whileperforming
such operations we assume that Nx,N
suchoperations,weassumethatN
Nxy,andN
and Ny,areconstantastheyhave
are constant as they have
alreadybeendeterminedfromequilibriumequations.

BucklingofPlates

Thusweget:

Theconditionforbucklingis2=0.Applyingsuchacondition,weget
followingequationsforbuckling.
g q
g

(Eq 36 8)
(Eq.36.8)

BucklingofPlates

InEqs.36.8,Nx1,Ny1, Nxy1, Mx1,My1, andMxy1 representvariationsinNx,

Ny, Nxy, Mx,,My, andMxy,,respectively.
p
y

The3rd equationcouplesinplaneforceresultantswithoutofplane
moment resultants Such a coupling is entirely attributable to the
momentresultants.Suchacouplingisentirelyattributabletothe
presenceofnonlineartermsinstraindisplacementequations.

Further,thevaluesofN
Further
the values of Nx,N
Ny,andN
and Nxy,havetobedeterminedbysolvingthe
have to be determined by solving the
equilibriumequations(Eq.36.7).Thesevaluesarethenintroducedinto
bucklingequations.

CarehastobetakenforsignsofNx,Ny,andNxy.Atensileforceresultant
tendstostabilizethesystem,whileacompressiveforce(negativeinsign)
does just the opposite
doesjusttheopposite.