BUCKLING BEHAVIOUR OF FIBER

REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITE

PLATES WITH CUTOUTS

Overview
Introduction
Description of the problem
Test procedure
Finite element analysis
Results and discussion

Effect
Effect
Effect
Effect

of
of
of
of

cut-out
length to thickness ratio (L/t)
ply orientation
boundary conditions

Conclusion
2

Introduction
Composites have been receiving more attention
from engineers, scientists, and designers
Excellent stiffness and weight characteristics

During operation , the laminated plates may be

subjected to compression loads
Buckling behaviours are important factors in safe
and reliable design of these structures

In literature, less attention paid on buckling of

composite plates with cutouts
Cutouts are often required in structural
components to produce lighter and more
efficient structures
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What this work deals

with ?
Buckling analysis of laminated composite plates
Symmetric
Antisymmetric

Plates analysed:
without cutout, with circular cutout, with
semicircular cutout

Parameters

Cut-out shape
Length/thickness ratio
Ply orientations
Boundary conditions
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Description of the
problem
Buckling loads of laminated composites
obtained numerically and validated thro
experimentation
Laminated plates made up of 8 plies
Plate dimensions:
W = 25 mm
t = 1.5 mm
L = 150 mm, 75 mm (L/t = 100, 50)

Rectangular plate
configurations
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Test procedure
Laminated plates manufactured from EGlass/Epoxy
of E-Glass/Epoxy
lamina (Vf
Material properties
Material properties
Values
E
39
= 0.6)
x

(GPa)

Ey=Ez
(GPa)
xy = yz = xz
Gxy = Gyz = Gxz
(GPa)
tply
(mm)

8.2
2.9
0.29
0.1875

Test procedure
Plates considered in the present study
Plate type
code
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Stacking sequence

[0]8
[90]8
[(0/90)2]s
[(0/90)2]as
[(45/-45)2]s
[(45/-45)2]as
[0/45/-45/90]s
[0/45/-45/90]as

Width
W
(mm)
25

Thickne
ss t
(mm)
1.5

Length/thick
ness L/t
100, 50

s symmetric, and as - antisymmetric

Each plate tested for CC, CP, PP boundary

conditions
Plates tested: without cutout, with cutout
(circular, semicircular)

Test procedure
Compressive loads applied vertically using 50
kN UTM

Test setups for various

boundary conditions

Clamped BC 40 mm plate length restrained

Pinned BC knife edge support used

Test procedure
Test specimens placed between two extremely
stiff heads; lower one fixed; upper head moved
downward by servo hydraulic cylinder (speed =
0.1 mm/min)
Load displacement diagrams for all composite
configurations were plotted

A typical load displacement

diagram

Machine was stopped when load dropped,

buckling loads determined from recorded data

Finite element analysis

Finite element analysis carried out using ANSYS
(Ver. 15)
Element type: SHELL91 (SHELL281)
Typical finite element meshes with boundary
conditions

Mesh refined on
vicinity of cutouts
Unit pressure
applied to the
model in x direction

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Finite element analysis

Solution of Eigenvalue Buckling Analysis
1. Static solution, PSTRESS, ON to obtain stiffness
matrix
2. Obtain bifurcation loads using eigenvalue buckling
solution
3. Expand solution to obtain the buckled mode shapes

An APDL code was used to carry out finite

element analysis
The critical buckling load (Pcr) so obtained is in
the units of N/mm
. multiply by plate width (0.025 m) to get Pcr in units of
N
11

Finite element analysis

Solution of Eigenvalue Buckling Analysis
1. Static solution, PSTRESS, ON to obtain stiffness
matrix
2. Obtain bifurcation loads using eigenvalue buckling
solution
3. Expand solution to obtain the buckled mode shapes

An APDL code was used to carry out finite

element analysis
The critical buckling load (Pcr) so obtained is in
the units of N/mm
. multiply by plate width (0.025 m) to get Pcr in units of
N
12

Finite element analysis

13

Finite element analysis

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Results and discussion

Goal is to investigate

Effects of cutout
L/t ratio
Ply orientation, and
Boundary conditions

on Pcr
Buckling load for all composites, with and
without cut-out obtained from experiments and
FEA are presented

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From
experiments

16

From FEA

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Results and discussion

1. Effect of cut-out
Buckling load generally decreases with presence of
cutout
Plates with circular cutout have slightly higher
buckling load than those with semicircular cutout
(behaviour almost the same)

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Results and discussion

1. Effect of cut-out

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Obtained from finite element analysis

20

Results and discussion

2. Effect of length to thickness ratio (L/t)

21

Results and discussion

2. Effect of length to thickness ratio (L/t)

22

Results and discussion

2. Effect of length to thickness ratio (L/t)

Buckling load for plates with L/t = 50 is higher than that

of plates with L/t = 100
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Results and discussion

3. Effect of ply orientation
Change in buckling load due to L/t ratio and
boundary conditions is very sensitive to ply
orientation
Buckling loads of the eight composite
configurations are significantly different
[0]8 plates are affected most; increasing the
ply orientation decreased the buckling load
Max. values occurred with [0]8 and Min. with
[90]8
78% decrease in buckling load
Effect of fiber orientation angle on the
buckling load increases as L/t ratio increases24

Results and discussion

3. Effect of boundary conditions
Boundary conditions have the strongest
effect on the buckling load, among the other
three parameters

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Results and discussion

3. Effect of boundary conditions

. The buckling load is maximum for the ClampedClamped (CC) boundary conditions and
minimum for the Pinned-Pinned (PP) boundary 26

Conclusions
The reduction of the buckling load due to the
presence of a cutout is found to be significant. It
is noted that the presence of cutout lowers the
buckling load
The cutout has a significant influence on the
buckling load of the plate with [0]8 layup but
not for the plates with [(45/-45)2]s and [(45/45)2]as layups
The buckling behaviour of the circular cutout
cases is very similar to that of the
corresponding semi-circular hole cases
The buckling load decreases as the L/t ratio
increases. If the L/t ratio is increased by two
times, the buckling load is reduced by around 27
75%

Conclusions
When the fiber angle increases, the buckling
load decreases. The plate with [0]8 layup has
the highest buckling load and the plate with
[90]8 layup has the lowest buckling load
The clamped boundary conditions show the
highest buckling load in the context of
considered edge conditions
Comparison of results of the finite element with
test results shows that the maximum difference
between predicted buckling load and measured
buckling load is found within 39% (due to
imperfect specimen geometry, material,
boundary conditions)
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Thank You

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