Elasticity solution for delamination buckling of plates

Abstract

An elasticity theory-based approach is developed for delamination buckling of simply-supported composite laminates whose behavior is referred to as 'cylindrical bending'. The approach assures an accurate description of the transverse shear and the transverse normal effects in delamination buckling of composite plates. The uniform prebuckling stress assumption, which is equivalent to the membrane assumption used in plate theories, is made for deriving the elasticity theory based buckling equations. The closed-form expressions for the displacements and stresses are derived, and nonlinear eigenvalue equations are presented which are used to solve for critical loads. The results obtained from the elasticity solution are compared with the critical loads furnished by the existing classical laminate theory and a previously developed higher-order shear deformation theory. The solution provides a means of accurate assessment of existing 2D plate theories. (Author)