Analytical solution for buckling and post-buckling of angle-ply laminated plates under thermomechanical loading

The present investigation deals with the buckling and post-buckling analysis of the moderately thick angle-ply laminated composite rectangular plates subjected to combined in-plane mechanical load and temperature gradient across the thickness. The geometric non-linearity in the von-Karman sense and first-order shear deformation theory are employed in the formulation of the problem. Non-linear governing differential equations of equilibrium are linearized by quadratic extrapolation technique and resulting linear differential equations are solved iteratively, using Chebyshev polynomials. The boundary conditions consisting of clamped, simply supported and their combinations are considered. An incremental iterative approach is employed to estimate the critical loads. The effects of bra, boundary conditions and lamination scheme on the buckling and post-buckling behaviour of the laminated composite plates are investigated. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.