A Method to Estimate Dynamic Buckling Response of an Unstiffened Plate Elastically Restrained Along All Edges Under In-Plane Impact

Abstract

Unstiffened plates in structures are usually welded or fastened to supporting members, providing rotational restraint stiffness to the plate. Previous studies have shown that neglect of rotational restraint stiffness at the edges of a plate in a structure can introduce deviations in the analysis of dynamic elastic buckling. In this study, the in-plane impact-induced dynamic elastic buckling responses of isotropic imperfect unstiffened plates with four elastically restrained edges are analytically investigated, based on the large-deflection theory of thin plate. The evolution of the peak deflection predicted by the proposed analytical method is found to be consistent with the responses available from the literature. Then the method is further used to estimate the deformation map of an unstiffened plate with four elastically restrained edges, and the effects of rotational restraint stiffness, initial geometric imperfection and shock duration on the dynamic buckling response of the plate are examined. The results show that the critical dynamic buckling load and the maximum deflection response of the plates are significantly influenced by the rotational restraint stiffness as well as the first-order initial geometric imperfection, and thus cannot be neglected in the analysis of dynamic buckling.