Thermal postbuckling of laminated composite skew plates with temperature-dependent properties

Thermal postbuckling and consequently, the role of temperature dependence of material properties on the thermal postbuckling behavior of laminated composite skew plates have not been addressed in literature. Hence, this problem is investigated here. The plate governing equations are based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and the geometrical nonlinearity is modeled using Green's strain tensor in conjunction with the von Karman assumptions. Since the problem is geometrically and physically nonlinear, the differential quadrature method (DQM) as an accurate, simple and computationally efficient numerical tool is adopted to discretize the governing equations and the related boundary conditions. Then, a direct iterative method is employed to obtain the critical temperature (bifurcation point) and consequently the nonlinear equilibrium path (the postbuckling behavior) of symmetrically laminated skew plates. After validating the formulation and the method of solution, the effects of temperature dependence of the material properties on the postbuckling characteristic of laminated skew plates with different skew angle, boundary conditions, length-to-thickness ratio, number of layers and ply layout are investigated. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.