Buckling of unsymmetric laminates under linearly varying, biaxial in-plane loads, combined with shear

Abstract

Classical lamination theory in conjunction with the Rayleigh-Ritz method is used for the determination of the critical buckling load of simply supported, unsymmetric cross-ply and antisymmetric angle-ply laminates, under linearly varying in-plane biaxial loads, combined with shear. The algorithms that produce each element of both the stiffness and load matrices in the final generalized eigenvalue problem are obtained. No limitation in the number of terms of the displacement field expansion considered exists. The validity of the presented method is evaluated by comparing its results with those of other investigators. Finally, a parametric study for both types of laminates is given, changing parameters such as the form of the applied load, the E 1 E 2 ratio and the angle of fiber orientation.