Buckling of laminated composite plates subject to nonuniform in-plane edge loads

The buckling of laminated composite plates subjected to nonuniform in-plane edge loads is studied using a shear deformable finite element. The finite element formulation is based on Mindlin's plate theory in which shear correction factors are derived from the exact expressions for orthotropic materials. Buckling testing of laminated composite plates with different lamination arrangements using the strain measurement technique is performed. The test results indicate that the proposed linear finite element method is unable to predict the buckling strength of imperfect laminated composite plates. The applications of the proposed finite element method are demonstrated by determining the optimal lamination arrangements of symmetrically laminated angle-ply plates comprised of different numbers of layer groups subject to various types of edge loads for attaining the maximum buckling strength. The so obtained optimal fiber angles and number of layer groups of the plates may be useful for practical buckling design of laminated composite plates.