Closed-Form Critical Buckling Load of Simply Supported Orthotropic Plates and Verification.

The buckling mode is important to determine the critical load of specially orthotropic rectangular plates under axial compression with simply supported boundary. However, in classical laminated plate theory (CLPT), the critical buckling mode can only be obtained by iterative or numerical methods. This paper derives the critical buckling mode mathematically and presents the critical buckling load in closed form. By taking advantage of the derived closed-form solution, it is convenient to investigate the effects of aspect ratio, load ratio, and fiber orientation on the buckling load, and the parameters affecting the buckling mode can be easily obtained. The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT)-based finite element method is developed to verify the closed-form solution. The bending-torsional coupling effects are analyzed and discussed to assess the approximation of the buckling behavior of specially orthotropic plates to general laminates. The obtained finite element solutions of general laminates are compared with the closed-form solutions of specially orthotropic plates. The accuracy of approximation of the buckling behavior of specially orthotropic plates to the general laminates increases as the bending-torsional coupling coefficients decrease. The closed-form solution can be applied to laminates with small bending-torsional coupling coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]