Spline finite strip analysis of the buckling and vibration of rectangular composite laminated plates

Abstract

A spline finite strip capability is presented for predicting the buckling stresses and natural frequencies of rectangular laminated plates. The plates may have arbitrary lay-ups and general boundary conditions. The spline finite strip method is first developed in the context of first-order shear deformation plate theory and then, by reduction, the method is also developed in the context of classical plate theory. In both approaches the superstrip concept is incorporated into the solution procedure. A considerable range of types of application is described and it is demonstrated that the spline finite strip method is versatile, with good convergence characteristics and accuracy. In these applications, frequent comparison is made with the results of other approaches which comprise a spline Rayleigh-Ritz method, a finite element method, an analytical Rayleigh-Ritz method and a semi-analytical finite strip method.