Compressive buckling analysis of plates in unilateral contact

• Published in: International journal of solids and structures Vol. 44; no. 9; pp. 2852 - 2862
• Main Authors: Ma, X., Butterworth, J.W., Clifton, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2007
• Subjects: Clamped rectangular plate; Composite panel; Compressive buckling; Simply supported rectangular plate; Unilateral contacting plates; Composite panel; Simply supported rectangular plate; Compressive buckling; Unilateral contacting plates; Clamped rectangular plate
• ISSN: 0020-7683; 1879-2146
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2006.08.029

The unilateral contact buckling behaviour of delaminated plates in a composite member is studied in this paper, where the two-dimensional mechanical problem is simplified to a one-dimensional mathematical model following the assumption of a buckling mode function in terms of the lateral coordinates. After the governing differential equations for the plate parts in the contact and non-contact regions have been solved, the problem is reduced to just two nonlinear algebraic equations allowing the buckling coefficient to be obtained through an iteration method. A simplified method is also deduced based on an assumed zero length of contact. The numerical results of the buckling coefficients based on both methods show good agreement.